Transformers Prime
by Autobot NightFury
Summary: AN: I've been meaning to do one of these for a while and thanks to my best friend Pixel, I finally got inspiration. Jane Dalton is my alternate self in Prime, she is a government rookie agent assisting Agent Fowler with human/autobot relations. Lets see if her presence in the universe alters events we already know about. Rated T for now. Don't like don't read. HIATUS for now.
1. Chapter 1

Transformers Prime

* * *

**Chapter one**

**AN: Thanks to the great fic Pixel wrote for me, it has given me the inspiration I needed for a TFP fic. Now I will warn you, Jane is a bit of a self insert and a bit of what I think my self would be in this dimension - kinda like the me in another universe. Some of her experience will draw from mine but not everything depicted here will be from my life. Got a problem with that, I will burn flamers. But real critics I will take in stride.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

6 months. It had been 6 months since Jane Dalton started her new job. She was so psyched to begin work. Her last job wasn't as fulfilling and when they let her go she didn't have many options. Partly in desperation for work and a keen curiosity, she decided to join try her hand at a government job.

After clear a police check, lie test and other such she started working in office operations at the FBI, becoming an agent in the Bureau. She was stationed in everyday office operations but her superiors had been impressed with her work ethic and gave her more and more responsibilities. Now, 6 months later, she was in-charge of most of the admin operations for the Bureau.

Today was no different as she walked through those same glass doors and took a seat at her desk. Arranging everything to be within arms length and got started on some work that was left from yesterday.

The day went by quickly as she focused on setting up and dispersing case files, chasing up reports, passing out messages and phone calls, stocking all office and kitchen supplies before doing the lunch run for most of the agents in the building.

Walking around the different desks and work stations, leaving take away coffee and food for their occupants, she looked up to see her boss - Special Agent Michael Reese - was talking to another man in his office, it seemed heated by the way Agent Reese was chewing out the other agent. The african-american man was calm as can be while Reese snapped and yelled at him, his voice and words muffled by the dense glass forming his office. Jane knew better than to hang around observing and moved passed the growing crowd spectating the argument to get back to her desk.

Setting down her own cup of coffee, she tied her short red hair back in a small ponytail and got back to work. But she had only gotten into her work when her phone rang. The caller id read Agent Reese's extension, feeling dread bubble in her gut,  
"Yes Agent Reese?" she answered, trying to keep her tone calm and level,

"Agent Dalton, please come to my office immediately," thats all Agent Reese had said before he slammed his phone down, ending the call. Groaning, Jane picked herself up and dusted herself off to make herself more presentable. Walking back through the booths had all eyes on her, not a situation she liked being in. But the thought of why Agent Reese wanted to see her was a little unnerving; had she done something wrong? She had alerted one of the other Desk agents she was running out for the lunch trip, or was it one of the files she put together, had she done something wrong? Did she mess up cases? A thousand scenarios jumped about chaotically as she knocked on the office door.

She was going to die.

* * *

Agent Fowler had had about enough of this stubborn office head. He had come to the FBI on important business concern a 'special mission' he had undertaken and had received permission from his superiors to take on an assistant, whether through an internship or as a partner. He had searched through countless files for someone with the best skill set for this mission and someone he'd be able to work with but no one had shown such skills; those who had refused the mission after meeting their objective, fearing either their own lives or the lives of their families, others were off on missions or tours in war torn countries while the last could not be trusted.

It wasn't until he had resorted to seeking help through the US intelligence agencies that he found someone suitable for the task at hand, but Special Agent Michael Reese was making the transition more difficult,

"Agent Reese, I have permission AND authorization to recruit an agent for this detail," Fowler groaned, exhausted from the entire exchange,

"But she's a rookie at best!" the aged man snapped, his silver hair disheveled from its sleeked back style from the man's aggravated ranting, "No real experience in the field, never been in a war zone nor on a case, so why on god's green earth would you want her?"

"Because of those exact traits; she's not hardened from fighting, she's one of the agencies best shots with a gun and her attention to detail, computer skills and communication in social relations makes her perfect. Training and experience I can bring but she is my choice, regardless of what you say," Fowler replied, numbering out traits with his fingers, annoyed that Reese was so against his choice,

"Why not Wilcons? Or Murphy? Hell, even Jackson would be a better choice. Seasoned agents," Reese stressed, pointing to each personnel file on his desk,

"Wilcons is being investigated for leaking classified information to one of your targets. Murphy was retired to desk duty because of a heart condition and Jackson has a record of disobeying orders. She has a clean slate, no demerits, no complaints, she gets along with everyone in this building as, so I've heard, has been the best thing to happen to this office in regards to organization and general office duties," Fowler now had an idea why Reese wasn't forthcoming with allowing Fowler to take on this rookie agent; she had increased success rates with completed missions significantly and kept everything in working order as far as office jobs were concerned. He had even discovered from other agents that she would review reports and scribble down notes to help her fellow agents. He couldn't ask for a better agent.

He watched as Reese was finally backing down, begrudgingly and stepping back. He made a call before slamming the receiver. It wasn't long later that the agent walked in and Fowler took in what he saw; she was about 5'7", maybe 5'8", fiery red hair now doubt giving away her irish heritage, bright teal eyes and an average build, not too thin but she wasn't over-weight, meaning she was of some level of fitness. She was dressed in black dress pants, a white blouse under a matching black blazer; a typical dress for Agents.

"You wished to speak with me sir," she saluted hesitantly, before trying to relax,

"Agent Dalton, this is Special Agent William Fowler...your new superior," now that was a shock, Fowler watched as she looked between them surprised and confused,

"Permission to speak sir?" she asked, hearing a groan when Reese waved her permission,

"Why have I been chosen? I've only been with the service for 6 months and all I've done is general office duties,"

"You see Agent Fowler, even she thinks she is not qualified," Reese smirked, only to look back to Jane's confused look,

"I'm not saying that Agent Reese, I'll do anything for my country if they ask it of me, I'm just curious as to why," she clarified, looking to Fowler for answers,

"I can't give you full details on the mission here, top secret need to know information, but from your record and discussions with those you work with, your attention to detail, foreign relations, communications and tech knowledge would be invaluable," Fowler replied, keeping Reese in his periphery in case he decided to snap again. Jane was indeed considering his offer and he hoped she agreed, she would certainly be able to handle the work load he had to contend with on this mission and she seemed to be a person most could get along with,

"Well...what the heck, Agent Fowler, I would be honored to work with you," she smiled, offering her hand in agreement. Fowler felt a little smug pulling one over Agent Reese, smiling as he shook the young woman's hand.

"You're doing your country a service Agent Dalton, it would be better to leave now rather than later, so bring only what you need and meet me on the roof, our ride it there," he smiled again as the excited woman saluted to him and ran off back to her desk, telling office friends about her new assignment, seeing all of them smile and congratulate her.  
Fowler said nothing else to Reese except a thank you and goodbye before making his way back to the helipad. It didn't take long for Jane to meet up with her new superior as they both entered the helicopter. He noticed she had a small backpack with her but he could see just through an open portion of the back, he saw a sketch book opened to a page depicting what looked like a robot, an iPad and drawing supplies,

"You're an artist?" Fowler asked, catching Jane's attention, looking down to see why he would assume that,

"Oh yeah, writer too," she smiled, a feint blush crossing her cheeks, "I dabble a bit on my breaks...never during work hours I swear," she panicked, hope she didn't just leave a bad impression, only to see the older agent chuckle,

"No, that's alright. Just nice to see someone in the agency has a life outside of work," he chuckled, putting her at ease but the dread that came with landing at the DC airport was creeping up on Fowler, "You may want to contact any family before we leave...consider it a relocation for our mission," the look on her face did deter him a moment before she pulled out her phone and made the call. Watching her closely, it seemed her conversation was going on better than he had thought,

"Um, where exactly are we going sir?" she asked, holding her hand over the phone as she waited for an answer,

"Jasper, Nevada."

* * *

The trip was better than Jane had thought. She hadn't really been in a plane before, not commercially at least. Looking out of her window, she awed at the majesty that was the open sky. She never seen anything so serene, so calm. But something in the distance caught her eye; a big black shadow just a little ways away from their jet, in comparison it was huge and looked nothing like any plane or jet she had ever seen. She would've alerted Agent Fowler to her discovery but the shadow had already disappeared.

Leaving it to a figment of her imagination, she returned to writing as they came closer to their destination. Agent Fowler had apologized for the constant fly as they were taken to another location from the Las Vegas Airport by helicopter. Jane didn't mind, she had ways to preoccupy herself.

Finally touching down for the last time, Jane almost stumbled out of the helicopter, her legs feeling like jelly after traveling so far for so long. Shaking it off, Fowler stopped her before they entered the hidden base,

"Now Agent Dalton," he began but she stopped him,

"Please sir, if we're going to be working together, you can call me Jane," she smiled, feeling a bit more relaxed about this secret mission,

"Alright, Jane, before we go down here, I gotta ask you to have...an open mind about this. And you are forbidden to tell ANY one about what you find in her. Not only is this a government secret, I'd rather not have countless people knowing about this, for safety reasons," Fowler explained, now Jane was feeling a little nervous, what could he possibly be hiding in this bunker?

"I promise sir, I won't tell. You have my word, and a Dalton never breaks their word," she preened in her family pride as Agent Fowler took her at her word and allowed her into the elevator first. She could tell he was nervous, and it was rubbing off on her. Whatever was here, must be bad.

The sudden stop of the elevator caused her to take a big gasp of air before holding it in for no reason. Slowly the doors open and a large lit room came into view; it was as if it was carved out of the very rock, but huge computer terminals were open with no means of standing before them or using them, even the catwalk they emerged on didn't seem to house much. Looking around the room, she wondered where this supposed secret could be,

"Prime!" Fowler cried, releasing an annoyed sigh as he looked back to Jane, "Sorry, usually there is someone here," Jane was about to ask who he was talking about when the echoing blare of a car horn bouncing off the walls answered he question. Now this was weird, if this was a military base wouldn't any and all vehicles be in a separate hanger. "Again Age-I mean Jane, keep an open mind," the moment he said that, a large red-and-blue semi truck, an orange-an-white ambulance, a green muscle jeep, a yellow-and-black muscle car, a blue motorcycle and a red mustang rolled in. Confusion was quickly replaced by shock as she watched each vehicle collapse, metal shift before transforming into a more bipedal form, a more humanoid form.

The tallest being the truck towered over the others, the shortest being the motorcycle which only came to the truck bots hips. Jane had craned up to just keep the bots in her sights as her amazement painted her expression,

"Agent Fowler...we were unaware you were with company," the tall bot boomed, his voice was deep with a commanding feeling but at the same time had a soft and caring tone as well, "Why have you brought another human here?"

"Because, both I and my superiors believed having a extra pair of hands and an extra pair of eyes to keep an close watch on all of you would be in our best interests," he replied, turning back to see how shocked and if not amazed Jane was by all of this,

"Sir, don't you think I could've been briefed on this?" Jane asked, looking back to Fowler,

"I do apologize for that but it was imperative to get you out here and become familiar with the team as soon as possible," Fowler then turned back to the towering bots, "This is Agent Jane Dalton, newly recruited from the FBI, her skills will be a benefit to our operations so please try to get along with her, she will help you in any way she can,"  
Jane watched as the bots remained where they were besides the tallest, he approached the shaken woman, leaning down slightly to make himself seem less imposing,

"Greetings Agent Dalton. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobot Forces. I am sure you have many questions for us," the bot, Optimus Prime, stated; watching her closely in case she would turn out like the last agent Fowler brought, the poor man feinted at the very sight of them,

"I do yes, but I think it would be better if we get to know one another before we go into each others' history. It's a pleasure to meet you Optimus sir," she tried to calm her nerves as she offered her hand in greeting, her smile grew as she seemed to have taken this prime by surprise only to see his own smile grow and he offered his finger in place of his gigantic hand. Jane was amazed his metal finger was warm instead of cold like she had thought, as if something was living beneath the digit, "Autobots, introduce yourselves," Optimus didn't really order it but simply stated it.

The next bot to approach her was once the yellow/black muscle car; his big blue optics reminded her of a young child, but what she noticed was hat he didn't seem to have a mouth like the others had. What was really peculiar was that this bot seemed to only make sounds like beeps, squeaks and warbles. Strangely enough she could understand this garbled speech,

"Hello Bumblebee. That name suits you," she smiled, jumping slightly as said bot began cheering in his own way, punching his clenched servos up, chattering to the others, "Was it something I said?" she asked, a little unnerved by his sudden over-cheeriness,

"You are the first being other than ourselves to understand Bumblebee," Optimus explained, his own smile crossing his plating. Now understanding the bot's joy, it made Jane feel more welcomed. The next bot to approach was huge, though not height wise. He was once the heavy duty green jeep she saw before,

"Names Bulkhead," he seemed hesitant, shakily offering her his finger like Optimus and Bumblebee had. Cocking an eyebrow, she easily took his finger in a firm shake,

"No need to be so tense Bulkhead, I don't bite," she smiled, believing that was reason behind his tense greeting,

"Oh trust me, it's not you he's worried," the ambulence bot snipped, walking away from the group to one of the large terminals, "I'm Ratchet by the way," he simply stated and nothing else. Jane could tell he'd be harder to get along with but she could deal. There were only 2 bots left, the red bot and the small blue bot. Looking at the 2, she could tell the small bot seemed more feminine than the others,

"Hey there, name's Cliffjumper," the red bot smirked, holding his fist out to Jane. Finding the greeting familiar, she returned it by tapping her own fist to his, seeing how his smile brightened,

"I'm Arcee," the blue bot greeted lastly, again holding her hand out like the others did. Looking to each bot, Jane smiled. This may be something to get used to but she believed in one thing:

In 50 years time, she could honestly say she had the guts to accept a mission like this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been a long day learning all about the bots and Jane was just thankful to get home as temporary as it was. She was glad it wasn't one of those crappy motel apartments some of the others ranted about, it was actually a house. It wasn't too far out of the main city but just on the fringes. It was a small, 2 story house - longer than it was wide, with a round sun room in the front.

Cliffjumper was kind enough, as well as instructed, to take her here after Fowler gave her the address. They had actually hit it off quite well, he was a chatter box and a little full of himself but Jane found it endearing, showing she was quite the talker,

"see ya bright and early tomorrow, Janey," Cliff's cocky voice filter through his radio as she swung her back pack onto her back,

"So 10-11 ish? In case you forget while beating some poor bot into the ground?" she smiled hearing the good-natured chuckle,

"oh come on, I may flap my lip plates but I never forget a friend," he replied, edging closer to her,

"that's true, you do flap them more than normal," she watched as the mustang shuddered with laughter,

"oh, oh, you wound me. I'd hate to see you angry if this is you being nice," now they both laughed,

" Think of it like this; at least something interesting comes out of your mouth," she smirked, watching as the laughing car pulled away,

"now there, was that so hard." he snickered, "See ya tomorrow Jane!" and with a roar of his engine, Cliff was off,

"See ya Cliff!" she called, smiling as one of her newest friends returned to base. Once he was out of sight, she decided a calming shower and some long hours online sounded like heaven. Walking inside, she was glad her new home had a modern touch to it; the lights were working, fridge and other appliances had power, the water heater was working as was the heater for the entire house. Dumping her bag on the couch, she found a note addressed for her.

*_Agent Jane Dalton, for the duration of this detail you will be living in Jasper, Nevada. This house has been placed under your name and responsibility. Any repairs or insurance requirements will be reimbursed upon claiming. You tasks here will involve aid the autobots on and off base, correspondence and reports will go through me, and finally you will also be responsible for teaching these bots about human culture and customs. They don't do anything until they clear it with you or myself first. All your clothing and personal affects have already been placed in the master bedroom. Should you need anything else, just let me know. Good luck. Agent William Fowler.*_

"huh. Never thought I'd be babysitting giant alien robots," she sighed, taking off her jacket carelessly and headed for the master bedroom upstairs. She was welcomed with a large, soft looking queen sized bed, mahogany dresser with all her little knick knacks littering the top. Waking into an adjacent room, she found a clean, white en suite with bath, shower and sink with a mirror. She could get used to this. Stripping down, she blasted the hot water and felt every muscle relax on contact. Washing through her red hair with soap and all over her body, she jumped out a few minutes later to save water. Drying off she slipped into her favorite pair of purple plaid pajamas with silver swirls and designs lining the legs and top.

Kicking it back on her soft couch, a thought came to mind. Quickly she pulled out her iPad and jumped onto FaceTime, calling her brother's number. Not a few rings later, a young thin face appeared on the screen; his hair was cut short but styled in a long fringe covering the right side of his face, stylish thick frame glasses sat nicely on the top of his straight nose, a big smile brightening the screen,

"Oh gingie is that you?! Oh you had me worried sick! Dad! Gary! Jane's on the line!" Within a second, 2 more men were bunched into the frame,

"Hey there sis, what gives? You up and go in with only a phone call?" Gary asked, looking at his sister confused by her rushed departure, "some FBI prick came telling us they were taking all of your stuff,"

"sorry Gary but I was only just assigned to a new case. I had to relocate ASAP and they didn't exactly give me any notice. Not my choice I swear," she replied, cooling her older brother temper,

"So long as your alright little dove, it's fine," the oldest of the men smile; his head covered in salt/pepper hair, a look of age sketched his face as he smiled back at Jane,

"Thanks dad, but I just thought to let you know I got here alright and I have my own house!" she beamed, taking the iPad and showed the living room before replacing the screen,

"Oh gingie it looks darling, but where are you anyway? Can you at least tell us that?" Sebastian, her older brother asked. He had always been different like her, being gay and all. But Jane loved her brother and always made an effort to help him in any way,

"I'm sure my superior won't mind that. I'm in Jasper, Nevada," she replied, watching her family's reaction,

"Hey you can visit nan and po! They're just a state over!" Sebastian beamed,

"Maybe Sebby, but I have to get up early tomorrow so I might go to bed now," she smiled, no doubt her weariness showed on her face,

"Alrit dove, you go and rest. And don't let this fowler character push you round, aright?" her father warned, knowing how over protective her father was,

"Don't worry dad, Agent Fowler is really nice," she replied, saying goodbye and good night to her family before turning her iPad off. Shuffling up to bed, she just wondered what tomorrow will bring.

3 months had passed since Jane began working with the Autobots. Ratchet was certainly thankful, not that he would admit it, since Jane had some knowledge of computers, fixing the many problems their new base seemed to have on a regular basis. She was even small enough to fit into the larger components and make repairs where ratchet couldn't reach.

She had gone on patrol a few times with the bots, Cliffjumper and Arcee more often than not. She travelled with Optimus on occasion too, the older bot finding it endearing such a young being had what seemed to be an unquenchable thirst for knowledge; asking questions about Cybertron, Autobots and Decepticons, their culture and history. The old archivist was more than happy to talk with the young human the entire afternoon on subjects spanning from culture, to history and technology. She in turn would answer his questions about earth, showing him Internet exhorts and other information caches to satisfy his pursuit of knowledge. One thing he seemed to notice was, unlike most humans he had met, asking about how their technology worked and how it could benefit earth, Jane seemed more interested in their social sciences, culture and economics. She seemed to want to know them more than knowing how they worked.

On a day like today, he smiled as he watched the bots set up a rec area for their human friend. There were some nights Jane had to stay at base and Ratchet had demanded a proper resting/sleeping area for their assistant liaison, only mildly showing his concern for her health. A decent, second hand couch was found at a cheap price, adding a tv and table, the bots beamed at Jane's appreciated smile,

Speaking of which, Jane had flipped the tv on and was showing the bots all the different forms of entertainment humanity had to offer. Bulkhead seemed interested in wrestling while Bumblebee was curious about video games,

"See anything you like Cee? Cliff?" Jane asked loosing interest in channel surfing, looking to the close bots. Though no one had voiced it, Jane could tell Cliffjumper and Arcee were close. She recalled Optimus telling her about such partnerships but in times of war, those bonds were often put aside to keep numbers up,

"Can't beat a nice long drive," Arcee smiled,

"Yep, open space, clear skies...and the view is to die for," Jane caught Cliff's glance to Arcee, chuckling at his word play,

"Well you two are just in luck. Your turn for patrol detail," Ratchet announced, looking at the 2. "Arcee you'll take route A and Cliffjumper will take route B," he instructed, opening the ground bridge for Arcee,

"Happy hunting cliff," Arcee smiled, transforming into her sleek motorcycle form and holoform before roaring through the portal,

"You know, she'll beat you within an inch of your spark for staring at her aft," Jane snickered, seeing the red mech's sultry smile watch Arcee leave,

"What? Not looking will rile her up even more," he joked, causing both of them to laugh, "Wanna come with? Weathers nice Ruby," Cliff had come to using a nickname for Jane because of her hair - it certainly was an improvement over Gingie but no less endearing - in the 3 months that they had known each other, he saw the little human as a sister,

"oh no you don, I need her here to help calibrate this confounded terminal!" Ratchet roared, growing annoyed with the so called primitive technology, pulling a chuckle from the duo,

"Maybe next time Cliff, when Ratchet isn't grumpy," she smiled, jumping off of the couch and headed over to the annoyed medic,

"I'll keep you to that ruby," he winked, transforming and speeding off into the ground bridge,

" Hey Ratchet, mind if I ask you something?" Jane asked, crawling into an open panel Ratchet had directed her too, she was glad to be where overalls on a hot day like this,

"what?" he replied curtly, busy with his calibrations along with monitoring Jane's movements under the terminal,

"I just thought, since there are so few of you, perhaps I could help operate the ground bridge while you guys need to patrol, it would certainly lighten your load around here," she replied, sliding out to grab another tool before slipping back under the terminal,

"I suppose it would lighten burdens to allow you to operate the ground bridge," Ratchet began, really considering her offer, "But the ground bridge is not a toy! You are only to operated it with consent from either myself or Optimus, understand," ah, there was the grumpy, moody Ratchet she knew. Giggling at his antics she crawled out from under the terminal and held out her hand,

"Deal."

The afternoon sun was setting over the horizon, coupled with the roar of Cliffjumper's engine. He had finally pulled Jane away from her duties and taken her on that ride. She had reclined back in the front seat and relaxed. He could tell the young human was sleeping, and he couldn't blame her, Ratchet had spent a good part of the day prior teaching her how to use the ground bridge and had her man it from early this morning, she deserved the rest.

"_How's Jane?_" Arcee's voice came through the radio, her holding a level of concern,

"she's good cee, just sleeping. Ratchet did a right number on her today," he chuckled, keeping an optics on the road and another on his passenger, "So much for being a lone on this rock, eh Arcee,"

"_Alright, I take it back. But you do realize she's in danger whenever she leaves base with us, if the Con's were to find out about her_," Arcee cautioned but she was stopped by Cliffjumper's good natured laugh,

"The cons haven't made a move in years Arcee, besides what danger could she get in with me around?" he joked, but he too cringed at the thought of the Decepticons harming their human allies, but a ping from his radar paused his train of thought, "Hold that thought Arcee, I spjust found a whole lot of energon," he smirked,

"_Hold on, I'll report back to base and bridge to you, you may need back up_," Arcee only rolled her optics when she heard Cliffjumper's telltale laughed,

"Come on partner, this is me we're talking about," but he froze when a familiar looming shape appeared above him, "Ah Arcee, about that back up,"

****INSERT LINE HERE****

Jane was jostled awake by Cliffjumper transforming around her, the end resulted in her sitting in his servo,

"Cliff? What's wrong?" she asked,

"Sorry Ruby, but you're gonna meet ya first Decepticon," shocked by the statement, she looked over to a small group of menacing looking bots, all the same with weapons trained on them, "or 4" before Cliff could react, the vehicons blasted him back into a crater, loosing his grip on Jane as he fell. Landing just outside of the hole, she cried out as she tried to move her arm, it felt broken. A shadow was cast over her, causing her to look back and find the vehicons inspecting her,

"CLIFF!" she screamed, trying to backpedal from the cons reaching servos, pulling out her trusty issued sidearm and took a shot of her attackers. All she managed to do was crack a visor and royally piss them off, but before they could grab her or kill her, Cliffjumper came roaring out of the crater, kicking the cons back and grabbing Jane,

"Hold on Jane, Prime's comin'" he assured, dodging and returning fire as much as he could, but while he was distracted by the fighting, Jane saw the stray shots hitting the energon cluster behind them,

"Cliff, the Energon!" she yelled, pointing to the crystals. Though she was fearful of what was going to happen when they blew, Cliffjumper wanted to do just that,

"Hold on!" he cried, running back to draw the Decepticons into the crater; dodging their shots and keeping Jane covered, he made. Great leap out and the crater, turning in mid air, taking aim and released a volley on the open energon. The Decepticons realized too late what Cliffjumper had planned and were caught in the blast. Clutching Jane close to his chassis, the force of the energon pushing him further and disorientating his landing. "Jane...you okay?" Cliff asked, looking down at his human friend, finding her cradling her arm and small tears pricking her eyes,

"My arm, from the last fall," she hissed, Cliffjumper cursed as he noticed the Decepticons regroup thought lesser in number, but the familiar whirl of the ground bridge brought some hope as Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet and Optimus jumped through, weapons armed and ready,

"Cliff, you okay?" Arcee asked, taking shots at the increasing number of Decepticons,

"Fine, but Jane is injured," he called back,

"Fall back!" Optimus ordered, looking back to see Cliffjumper cradle Jane and retreat through the bridge, soon everyone followed while dodging enemy fire,

"Agent Dalton, are you okay?" Optimus asked, once the ground bridge powered down and everyone settled,

"It's my arm, I think its broken," she sniffed, twitching and flinching when her injured arm was moved,

"Let me see," Ratchet held his servo out to take her arm, which she gingerly gave. He ran scans over the swollen limb but his results seemed promising,

"Just a sprain, nothing broken but I'd say go to a local medical centre to take a look," he replied but turned to glare at Cliffjumper, "And how did she become injured while under _your_ protection?" he huffed,

"It's not his fault Ratchet. The Decepticons had attacked and I fell from his hold, gravity tends to do that," Jane defended her friend and seemed to appease the glaring medic,

"Cliffjumper, ensure that Agent Dalton gets to a medical centre to examine her injure. We have limited knowledge of human physiology and it would be easier for a human doctor to treat her," Optimus ordered. Cliffjumper didn't argue as he transformed and allowed Jane to get in.

****INSERT LINE HERE****

"Oh gingie what happened to your arm?!" Jane's mortified brother fussed, spuring her father and older brother to come running,

"Occupational hazard, don't worry Sebie its just a sprain," she smiled, looking at the mounted iPad, chasing up with her family,

"Darlin, that never happened before at your last job, how in sam hill did ya sprain it?" her father fussed, now Jane had to get creative but she hated lying to her family,

"Gravity was against me, fell from an elevated platform," what she said wasn't entirely untrue,

"Well they better compensate you for it," Garry stated,

"They are, no worries there Garry," Jane then yawned as her eyes began to droop,

"Ya better go get some rest, ya look haggard," that was the best thing her father had said to her today,

"Okay, goodnight guys, I'll see you tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter but I got a little stuck since Cliffjumper is alive, there is no need to send the autobots to the large mine. I''l have to mull it over a little bit so it may be a little longer for the next chapter. That and I'm working on Mass Effect and Transformers (Movie) fics as well. Busy Busy Busy.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It didn't take too long for Jane's arm to heal. But after a heated argument with Ratchet over the issue, she now wore an arm binding even after the 2 weeks it took for her sprain to heal. She knew Ratchet was just concerned so she didn't press the issue further. Those last 2 weeks had been quite uneventful despite the increase in Decepticon activity and through those exploits the Autobots were able to find more energon deposits after chasing the vehicons and eradicons from the mines.

Today, everyone was on patrol save for Ratchet and Optimus. Jane was tinkering around a small terminal Ratchet had set aside for her, setting up a station ready for human use. It was close to the ground bridge to allow her to use it when needed.

"Okay guys, time to call in," Jane commed, setting up her wireless headset, "Base to Bumblebee, come in Bee," she smiled at hearing the familiar binary code Bumblebee used to communicate, "Glad to hear Bee. Base to Bulkhead, ya there lugnut?" she joked, hearing a warm, amused chuckle on the other end,

"Haha, very funny Janey," Bulkhead responded, "Everythings a-okay on this end, should be back at base soon," Jane nodded to his response as she moved to the next,

"Base to Cliffjumper, all good on your end?" she commed,

"All good Ruby, scenery is definitely a change but the traffic is murder, never thought a human could go slower than one of those shelled reptiles you were watching the other day," Jane smiled at his playful whining,

"Yeah, the tight streets tend to do that, once you find a secure place I'll open a ground bridge for you," she replied, closing the link, "Base to Arcee, come in Arcee,"

"Kinda busy at the moment Jane!" Arcee yelled through the comm, catching both Optimus' and Ratchet's attention,

"What is your status Arcee?" Optimus asked, opening the comm link through the transformer terminal,

"I've got 2 cons tailing me, and I got an unexpected passenger," she called back, the muffled sound of a boy screaming bloody murder,

"A human?" Ratchet asked, shocked by how the boy got involved,

"I'll explain later but right now these cons are catching up. I need assistance!" the blasts in the background were enough to get Jane to jump back on her terminal, bringing up Bumblebee and Bulkhead since Cliffjumper was on a different continent,

"Bee! Bulkhead! Arcee needs back up and you're the only 2 in the area. Get your titanium rears in gear and go smash some cons," though Jane didn't mean to come off as harsh but there was an innocent involved along with Arcee being vastly outnumbered,

"You got it Janey, on our way," Bulkhead responded, followed by Bumblebee's, Jane just hoped they were in time.

* * *

"The cons would've been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted," Arcee grumbled, looking between Optimus and Jane. After giving her a description of the boys, Jane began searching for them in any local databases she shad access to. Since the boys were young, she had searched the local high schools for their pictures. Bumblebee followed with raising 2 fingers, beeping and whirring a response,

"2 human boys?" Optimus questioned, looking at the 2 bots,

"I guess the second human caught us in action, I don't know. I was a little busy at the time," Jane could see Arcee was just angry with herself, normally 2 vehicons weren't a problem for the agile bot,

"Regardless, if the Decepticons are targeting us, any one preserved as our ally will be at grave risk," Optimus sighed, not wishing to bring any more innocence into their war, especially after Jane's rush with the Decepticons,

"Okay, I think I found them," Jane announced, catching the bots attention. She brought up a few possible matches to Arcee and Bumblebee's descriptions, "Are any of these the boys you saw?" she asked, pointing to the pictures. Arcee and Bumblebee scanned the images while Bulkhead and Cliffjumper stood back and watched them,

"There they are, File 6 and 10," Arcee pointed to a young boy probably no older than 16, shaggy black hair, grey t-shirt over a while long sleeve shirt, jeans and sneakers. The other was a younger, smaller boy probably only 12 years old, wearing a shirt, orange sweater, jeans and sneakers.

"Okay…Jarkson Darby, Age 16 and Rafael Jorge Gonzales Esquivel, Age 12…both go to Jasper Memorial High School," she reported, showing the address,

"Woah, do humans really need so many names? Isn't 1 enough?" Cliffjumper asked, looking at Rafael's name,

"Sometimes its due to culture and where you come from, but since we don't have a lot of names and over a billion people living on the one planets, you're more than likely to find a fair few people with your name. Gets confusing without different names," Jane explained,

"Arcee, Bumblebee, as it was the 2 of you that were seen by these boys, you will bring them here so we can explain the situation," Optimus ordered, but Jane's cough caught their attention,

"They'll have to wait till tomorrow, school is out at 3pm and doesn't get back in until 8 in the morning, better to go then," Jane explained,

"Very well, you both shall escort the children from their 'school' back to base," understanding his order Arcee and Bumblebee took this time to relax. Jane smiled as Bumblebee and Bulkhead walked off to train or Lob, whatever the 2 of them played while she watched Arcee and Cliffjumper walk off smiling. But soon her expression became down cast,

"Optimus," catching his attention, the Autobot leader noticed her tentative expression, "You know I need to tell William about this, right?" she asked, looking to the older entity,

"Yes, I do Agent Dalton, but I ask you to appeal to his better judgment, these children much like yourself and Agent Fowler are at risk, they need our protection," Optimus explained, knowing full well Jane understood. He found it strange that a human, such as herself, seemed more at home among them than with her own kind, he would have to mention this to her at one stage but for now, he left her to make contact with William Fowler.

* * *

"PRIME! What part of 'no civilian contact' do you _not_ understand?!" Fowler snapped, "You've really gone off the books this time," and he wasn't happy,

"Sir, the circumstances were unpredicted, it couldn't be helped. Besides, in any event they prevent 2 civilian deaths from occurring," Jane tried to explain, bring up the 2 boys on the screen,

"Agent Dalton is correct Agent Fowler, with the boys perceived as our allies, the Decepticons would not hesitate to take the lives of innocent humans," Optimus explained, looking 2 at the senior agent, who could only hold his stare so long before relenting,

"I see your point, and I trust Jane's judgement...but she is to watch their EVERY move," this caught Jane for a loop,

"Great, now I can add babysitting prepubescent teens to my job schedule, goodbye weekends," she moaned, pulling a few giggles from Bumblebee and Cliffjumper,

"Aw come on Ruby, you'll be great, think of it as practice when you have your own kids," Cliffjumper joked, receiving an elbow to his side from Arcee,

"Well, I guess your right, I mean I out up with you, 2 boys should be easy going," this pulled a laugh from Ratchet, Bee, Arcee and Bulkhead but left Cliffjumper stunned,

"Okay okay, I deserved that," he snickered,

"Well since you guys are done make light of this _serious_ situation, it's almost time for those kids to get out of school," Fowler huffed, Optimus agreed and sent Bumblebee and Arcee to fetch the boys,

It wasn't long before the 2 bots got back, but with an additional passenger. Allowing the kids together off, they noted that the extra passenger was a young girl,

"I thought there were 2?" Ratchet questioned,

"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply," Arcee retorted, obviously not happy with the new development,

"Not this fast!" Fowler snapped, "This mess just gets bigger and bigger," he moaned, causing Jane to smile at his overdone dislike of the situation,

"I'm Raf," the smallest greeted, looking to Ratchet and Bumblebee,

"I'm Miko! Who are you?!" the girl rudely chirped running up to Bulkhead, catching the ex-Wreaker by surprise,

"Bulkhead," Jane could see this Miko was going to be a handful, but Bulkhead's reactions were just too good not to giggle about, but that drew Miko's attention to the only other woman in the room,

"Who are you?" she rudely asked again, she was certainly biting on Jane's nerves, but she didn't answer since Raf began to talk,

"So if you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf asked, looking for answers,

"Ugh, pah-lease," Ratchet groaned,

"Don't be sour Ratchet, they don't know yet," Jane chided, pointing behind the children to Optimus. Standing before them was quite intimidating so he dropped to one knee and began to explain to the kids why they were under Autobot protection, why the Autobots were here and why the Decepticons were here. Jane and Fowler had heard all this before and simply stood on the sidelines,

"Now that you're debriefed there are still a few matters left to deal with," Fowler stated, motioning the kids to come up to the higher platform, "I'm Special Agent William Fowler of the US government, this is my asssistant, Agent Jane Dalton. The Autobots, under our Human/Autobot cooperation act, have been stationed here in order for their operations to go unhindered while complying with our laws," he watched the kids with a critical eye; while Jack and Raf listened to his every word, Miko looked bored and played with her braid, "Now that you've been...inducted on these operations, we need to lay some ground rules,"

"Argh, great," Miko moaned, not liking the idea but she became quiet when Fowler glared her down,

"Now, you are not to tell _anyone_ of what you see here. You are under Autobot protection for a reason, Those Decepticons won't hesitate to kill you on sight, so we're Optimus will pair you with an Autobot guardian, Agent Dalton will be your handler when the Autobots are otherwise occupied, you listen to everything she tells you, she's seen the worst of it,"

"Got the arm bracing to prove it, since _someone_ doesn't seem to grasp the fact my sprain is healed," Jane added, smiling when she heard an exasperated grumble,

"Your arm needs the support until you can strengthen it again," Ratchet snapped, looking at the human in question, Jane just smiled and turned back to the others,

"Did the Decepticons do that?" Jack asked, not particularly liking the idea,

"No, gravity did that. If it were a con, poor ruby here would be down 1 arm," Cliffjumper added, as shocked as they were, the kids looked questioningly at Jane,

"He made note of loosing limbs and my nickname is what gets you? Oh this will be fun."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Once everything had been explained to the kids as well as a small tour around the base, everyone gathered around the main terminal once again,

"Now that you know of our existence, I fear that of last night the Decepticons know of yours," Optimus explained, ignoring the grumble from agent Fowler,

"Got it, if we spot any strange vehicles we'll call 911," Jack summed up, Jane could see he was nervous, if not concerned over the whole situation, "Can we go now?"

"Are you _insane_?" Miko asked, as if it was the most unheard of question in history, "I'm living a dream here in Bot-swana, and I will not allow _you _or _anyone_ else to shatter it!" she snapped,

"Your kidding right?" Jane asked, walking up to the young Miko, "This isn't some thrill seekers vacation, this is serious. Because of the Cons, you could be dead this time tomorrow if not for the Autobots. This is a privilege not a right to be here," Jane snapped, getting a glare from the immature girl, she'll learn,

"It is best that you 3 remain under our watch, just Agents Fowler and Dalton are currently, at least until we can determine our enemies intentions," Optimus agreed, watching the 2 female humans glare at one another, Miko instantly backing down to the taller woman,

"But Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in just as much danger here as anywhere," Ratchet ignored Jack's scoff, turning to Optimus, "Like Agent Fowler and Jane, they have no protective shell, if they get underfoot they will go..._squish_," to affirm his point he stamped his pede forward, indicating to the kids just what he meant,

"Then you bots would do well to _look_ where you're going, I for one do _not _want to break to their families, saying their child was crushed by an unaware alien bot," Fowler snapped, recieving a glare from Ratchet, man as if there wasn't enough tension in the room, Jane would never know,

"Look lets just cool it. If we all watch where we step and stay within designated areas, we can avoid the whole squishing scenario, sound good?" Jane asked, looking to Fowler and Ratchet and lastly Optimus, all of which who agreed. "Great, now if I am to assume, you kids need to get home,"

"No way! I wanna hang here!" Miko whined,

"Yeah, I gotta get back, it's after 10," Jack admitted,

"Me too, if I don't get home, I'll be grounded for a year," Raf added, the bots looked confused, looking to Fowler and Jane for answers,

"Curfew, a rule parents give their kids to be home by a certain time," Fowler explained as Jane ushered the kids to Cliffjumper, who happily transformed for their newest companions and opened his doors,

"Earth customs, I hadn't considered," Optimus sighed, "But the issue of your safety remains," turning to Agent Fowler for affirmation, though he was reluctant to give it, Optimus turned o his team, "Bulkhead, you will be stationed at Miko's dwelling,"

"AWESOME! My host parents will freak!" Miko cheered, ignoring the annoyed glare from Jane,

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form," Optimus ordered, not taking in Miko's outburst,

"Curb side duty. Got it," the green bot nodded, Miko's sigh going unheard by the bots,

"Bumblebee. You'll watch over Raf," the young scout looked to the smaller boy, his eyes beaming and mimicking the 12-year-old's smile, nodding his helm eagerly, "Arcee, you'll accompany Jack, while Cliffjumper will remain with Agent Dalton,"

"Got it," Arcee nodded, glancing to the red mustang with a smile, it didn't go unnoticed by a certain female agent,

"Alright, let's go," Jane announce but just as she was stepping to Cliffjumper, she froze. A chill ran down her spine, a pained and hoarse roar echoed through her mind, causing her to stagger and clutch her head,

"Yo Ruby, you okay?" Cliffjumper asked, the other bots moving slightly to see what had caused her to stagger,

"Just a headache, I get them sometimes. I'll be fine," she rushed, wanting to get out of there before Ratchet strapped her onto a medical berth. Everyone clambered into Cliffjumper as the newly appointed Autobot guardians followed close behind,

"Is it normal for Agent Dalton to have these...headaches?" Optimus asked, turning to agent Fowler,

"Her medical reports do say she has suffered such headaches before, it never mentions when they started only that she has had them for some time. Its whats kept her from most missions but she seems to still adapt well. She has medication to help with the pain but there isn't anything life threatening about them," Fowler explained, making his way back up top and leave for HQ. Ratchet and Optimus shared a concerned glance before they too returned to normal duties.

Once the kids were home and their guardians at their post, Cliffjumper took Jane home,

"Thanks again Cliff," she smiled, stepping out of the red mustang,

"We're friends Ruby. And I'd like to think I'm your guardian," he snickered, his voice dripping wi mirth and pride, but his slight jitters told Jane something else,

"Go. I know you wanna be with Arcee, you can come back and get me in the morning," she smiling, noticing the car freeze before his engine revved loudly,

"Thank you," he praised, tires screeching as he took off down the street, shouting a 'see ya in the morning' before disappearing. Chuckling again, Jane made her way inside, only to find a package waiting for her at the door. Raising an eyebrow she took the package and walked inside. Discarding her bag and keys, she sat down with the package. Reading the delivery docket, she found it had come from home,

"They didn't," she beamed, ripping open the rectangle box to find a fine leather case, "They did!" she squeaked, carefully taking the case out and popping the latches, lifting the lid she found a brightly polished, deep purple violin. She ran her hands over its polished surface still trying to comprehend her family sending her favorite and beloved instrument.

Pulling it out, including its bow, she quickly tuned it before playing a few cords. The soft flow of sounds were heavenly, before she turned a small dial on the instruments base and played again, now the sounds became electronic but never losing the melody. As she continued playing, forming melodies and playing variations of her favorite songs, she had played well into the night.

* * *

Jane groaned as the insensate honking of a familiar car horn. Groggily, she crawled out of bed and opened her window,

"Come sleeping beauty, we gotta go!" Cliffjumper called,

"Give me 5 minutes I'll be down in a sec!" she yelled back, moving around her room before running into the bathroom. Not long after she walked out with her hair down and teased. Since it was Saturday, Jane adopted more of a casual look; a worn pair of brown riding boots, black tights, a red Scottish pleated skirt, long sleeve dark purple top and a matching brown leather jacket,

Grabbing her bag and keys, she stopped at the door. She had left her acoustic-electric violin in the lounge last night and the idea of taking it to base seemed like a good idea. Hefting her bag onto her shoulders, she grabbed he case and took off to Cliffjumper,

"You're in a good mood, care to share?" Cliff asked, his voice filtering through the radio, but paused when he saw the violin case, "What's that?" he asked,

"I'll show you at base," she promised, fastening her seat belt and enjoying the ride back to base. She still couldn't believe it had been a week since the kids discovered the Autobots, and just how close they had become to their guardians. Jack had come to see just how much Arcee and Cliffjumper meant to each other and never took up too much of the motorcycle femmes time, same as Jane had with Cliffjumper. Miko and a bulkhead hit it off on the first day, she had shown him the extremes humans could go to as well as her taste in music. Bee and Raf were practically brothers now, if one were around the other wouldn't be too far behind, it made Jane beam to see that Bumblebee made a new friend.

Arriving at base, Jane stepped out only to find Ratchet at his post, mumbling something about guests being a bother,

"Glad to feel the love Ratchet," she giggled, walking up to the human platform while Cliffjumper transformed. Her sudden appearance did make the Autobot medic jump,

"Don't do that," he grumbled, but smiled nonetheless, "Are you feeling better, Jane? Is your headache still persisting?" he pulled out his scanner and scanned Jane head to toe, she shivered at the strange sensation of the light running over her,

"Yes Ratchet I'm fine, some penicillin and a good nights rest was all I needed," she smiled,

"Well while you two get chummy, I'm gonna go train," Cliffjumper butted in, turning to leave the main chamber, "Call me when the others get back!"

"Will do!" Jane replied, leaving her bag and case near her station, getting to work on her terminal,

"Jane, as dedicated as you are, I must ask that you at least take a rest day. You have been with us for nearly 4 months and not once have you taken a break," Ratchet chided, since the other kids weren't here he was more comfortable showing his 'softer' side around the young woman, showing his concern,

"It's alright Ratchet, it's my job to be your inducted on-site liaison since Fowler can't do this all the time, I'm happy and loving my time here. And if I'm not working or helping you guys out, I'm really just hanging out here," Jane replied, smiling up at the concerned medic but her assurances just didn't seem to stick,

"That may be but as Chief Medical officer of this team, you are to take today off. No work unless it's an emergency," she was about to protest but found that it was like talking to a 25" tall metal wall and conceded with her dignity,

"Then, you won't mind if I practice my violin?" she asked, pushing away from her console to pick up her violin case,

"A what?" he asked, Ratchet never really bothered himself with earth customs or anything pertaining to the human race, though now he was reading up on human medicine after witnessing Jane's head ache the other week. Watching her carefully, he saw her pull out a small metallic colored shape with what looked 7 long strings spanning the length. She pulled out another long stick with multiple strings fastened from top to bottom,

"A violin, a musical instrument," she smiled, setting the string instrument under her chin, plucking a few strings to check if they were in tune,

"An instrument? That? What possible sound could come from a..." he trailed off when Jane began playing; she began slow and smooth, testing each note as the bow slide over the strings. Ratchet simply stood there as he watched her play, taking in the notes and sounds made from the violin. She began to pick up the pace, increasing tempo into a moderate melody but still remaining soft and graceful.

Unbeknownst to the 2 of them, Optimus walked in once he heard the strange musical echoing through the base. Coming into the main chamber, he came to find Jane playing the strange earth instrument and Ratchet who appeared to actually enjoy the sound it made. Holding a rather long note, Jane stopped and looked to the stunned medic,

"Did you like it?" she asked, a slight smile on her face when she saw his expression. Snapping out of his little daze, he began to mumble that maybe Earth had some good points and that she played well but returned to his work,

"What were you playing Agent Dalton?" Optimus asked, looking down as the smiling and satisfied woman,

"It's called a Violin Optimus, a string instrument used mostly in classical music...did you like it?" she asked, looking expectantly up at the tall Autobot, her smile growing at the sight of his,

"Indeed it did. It reminds me of the music the Artisan caste would develop and perform," he smiled, but he noticed Jane's sudden change in expression,

"Yeah, you mentioned Cybertron had a caste system in place, I can't imagine living like that," her voice low and portrayed her lowered emotion,

"It worked for some, but not for others. Other like Megatron wished to change the norm but unlike Megatron himself, they lacked the means to do so," Optimus explained, "Cybertron had once prospered before the reign of Zeta Prime pulled Cybertron from its golden age, dragging all down a path that stagnated all progress and prosperity," Optimus explained but he found the subject too dark to continue, especially not after hearing the soothing music Jane had just played.

Before either could say anything, the central terminal began to flicker and blare. Ratchet moved from his position to the controls, locking on and decrypting the transmission,

"It's a Decepticon signal," Ratchet confirmed, sensing Optimus standing behind him, observing the screen while Jane ran up another level to get a better look at the screen. Once Ratchet's identifying program completed its scan; a scarred, silver mech appeared on the terminal,

"Megatron," Optimus rumbled, glaring at the picture, "Can you trace it Ratchet?" Optimus asked. Jane had never heard the Autobot leader sound so angry. She tracked the screen as Ratchet triangulated his position,

"I thought you said Megatron wasn't on earth?" she stated but something about this mech was giving her the chills,

"He wasn't. Whatever he has done the past 3 years, he has returned from it," Ratchet replied, watching as a location was pinpointed, in a deep canyon further up country from their location. But just as the location was programmed into the ground bridge, the kids with their guardians returned along with Cliffjumper from the training room,

"Did I miss something?" he asked, showing that he was oblivious to everything that had occurred once he entered the training room. Jane just shook her head before turning back to the kids, smiling as they cheered and chattered about their time with Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. Said Wreakers stiffened a moment, shifting a few armor plates to pull out a small case,

"Sorry. Must've left that in the back seat," Miko apologized, taking the case from Bulkhead's awaiting servos. The bots looked to Optimus as he walked toward them,

"Autobots. Prepare to..." then he paused, of Megatron was indeed back, it would only sure to weaken their already limited hold here, the fewer undertaking this mission the better. Not only that but glancing down at the children only showed they were needed at base, Jane alone could not defend them should the worst happen,

"Roll out?" Arcee questioned, feeling Cliff walk up behind her,

"Remain here. Ratchet will come with me," Ratchet nodded, understanding Optimus' reasonings after seeing their leader stall and look to the children, "Arcee, we will be outside of communications range for some time so I'll be putting you incharge," Arcee nodded, agreeing to the temporary position,

"Dude. You're the biggest, you should be the boss," Miko snipped looking to Bulkhead,

"Size doesn't determine leadership Miko," Jane called out, making her way to the children, "Though I don't doubt Bulkhead would make a good leader should the opportunity arise, Optimus would know what's best,"

"Optimus, with all due respect: playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting is another," Arcee stressed, not that protecting humans was on her priorities, babysitting was not,

"Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war," Cliffjumper added, also finding the situation to be a little out of their favour, though he wouldn't complain if he could have some quality time with Arcee,

"My pistons may be rusty but my hearing is as sharp as ever," Ratchet snapped, mumbling off about young bots not knowing how to respect their elders,

"For the moment, its only reconnaissance," Optimus added, but Arcee wasn't convinced; she looked up to the taller bot and was only concerned for her friend,

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" she asked, looking Optimus straight in the optics. Discussing the issue further would lead no wear, Optimus put his bots at ease before bridging out of base with Ratchet, leaving the base in their capable hands,

"Um, okay chief...what's on the activities list?" Jack asked, looking to the bots, but before anyone said anything Jane stepped forward,

"Arcee, I can watch the kids if you want me too. I'm the adult here and it is another responsibility Agent Fowler has placed on me," Jane explained, seeing the femme sigh but her frown turned to a smile,

"Thanks Jane, but Optimus is right, at least one or 2 of us should stay at base," she admitted, but Cliffjumper had other plans. Pulling her aside while the kids got situated. Jane smiled at her 2 closest friends deciding to go for a drive but she was pulled back to reality when a loud screeching sound came from the kids. Miko had pulled out a 'V' shaped electric guitar and what looked like a speaker...where the hell did she get a speaker?

"Hey, why not band practise?" she asked, looking to the others,

"But...we're not a band," Raf added, Jack nodding in agreement,

"Why so anti-social? Come on Raf, you play anything?" Miko asked, walking around the large speaker to the boy. Jane watched as she made her way back up to her station, practice sounded like a good idea and she needed to do some practicing of her own,

"Keyboard?" Raf asked, pulling out his laptop,

"Laptop and samples, good. Jack?" she asked, looking to the older boy,

"I...sometimes mess around on the harmonica," he replied sheepishly but flinched when the japanese teen got in his face,

"Do I _look_ like I do country?" Miko sounded as if he had offended her with the very notion a playing a simple instrument, Jane shook her head as she began to clean her violin bow and a few scuffs her otherwise pristine had on its surface, "Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming," Miko ordered, walking back to her speaker,

"Oh yeah, that is really something I don't want to see," Jane sighed, looking over the side to the kids, "Miko if your going to play music, _play_ music, not any of that crap people seem to pass off as music," Jane called, cleaning her violin strings though from where she sat, the kids couldn't see her violin. Miko simply scoffed before turning to Bulkhead,

"Bulkhead, percussion. We'll go for a big industrial sound. Bumblebee...you can help back Raf up," she pointed to each bot, giving them a role, "DIY, we're a band. You just gotta learn the songs; this one's a ballad, 'My fist, Your face'," the moment they heard that song title, the sheer loud strumming and screech of Miko's guitar caused almost everyone to cringe and cover their ears.

Miko's playing continued until Jane couldn't take anymore, her head pounding from a growing headache, increasing with each strum of Miko's guitar strings. Rushing down with her violin in hand, she made a beeline for Miko, placed her violin on the speaker before she turned the volume down, took the guitar from the young girl and began tweaking with the strings,

"HEY! You're gonna mess it up!" Miko cried, trying to take her instrument back but Jane refused until she began to strum the now tuned strings. Sliding her fingers to cause a long echoing note much more pleasant to the audios,

"If you're going to play metal, make sure your guitar is tuned next time," Jane hissed, handing the guitar back to her and taking her violin,

"Oh yeah, what would you know, you play violin!" Miko snapped back, now hating Jane for messing with her guitar, "You wouldn't know _good_ music if it were playing right infront of you," the 2 females stared at each other, causing the boys to tense,

"Jane, don't do anything you're gonna regret," Bulkhead said nervously, watching as she strided back to Miko, plucked the adaptor from her guitar and plugged it into a similar port on her violin, before Miko could speak they were stunned,

Jane's fingers flew over the strings of her violin, her melody hard and fast paced, mirroring that of a guitarist in a metal band. The mixture of notes and sounds seemed to echo again as they had before with Ratchet and Optimus. Some of the notes she achieved seemed impossible to reach until she came to a resounding finale. Sighing, she unplugged her violin, handed the cord to Miko before returning to her station and began practicing a more classical sound,

"Ah...safe to assume Music is a touchy subject with her," Jack uttered, before it was decided that perhaps a more calmer activity would be better. But as they were all moving to the tv to play games, Miko still in a rut for being showed up, the alarms went off,

"What's the matter? What's wrong?!" Raf panicked, thinking it was something bad. Bulkhead turned to the monitor to try and figure it out but Jane took point and brought up her station's terminal,

"It's an SOS...from Agent Fowler?!" Jane panicked now, trying to triangulate the distress but the alarm soon clicked off,

"What happened?" Bulkhead asked, looking over to Jane,

"Damn, the location scan is incomplete, I couldn't get a lock," Jane sighed, racking her hand through her loose hair,

"So? The guy is a jerk," Miko quipped, but jumped when she got a heated glare from Jane,

"You may not care but I do. He's my partner and my friend. Besides, he was on his way here, the Cons must've picked up the call he made before you guys got back. If so, they could have him," she hissed, trying to figure out another way to find Fowler,

"That means...they'll know our location!" Raf was now panicked as well,

"So what do we do? If the cons took him back to their ship, we won't be able to find it the slaggin thing is cloaked," Bulkhead stressed,

"Which is why I'm going to trace him with a microchip all their government agents get when they joined up," Jane explained, bringing up a registry but was blocked but the server, "Damn it! I don't have clearence!"

"Let me try, if I can hack into the feds mainframe, I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates," Raf smiled, running up to the older woman and took the seat she offered,

"Normally I wouldn't condone hacking, but this is an emergancy. Do it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Transformers prime**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Bridging to the last location of their hated enemy, Optimus and Ratchet bridged to their destination. The canyon was dark, an ominous aura permeated the place like a festering wound. Walking down the high cliff passages, one could still feel if not smell the stench of death blanketing this place,

"Optimus. What do we hope to find here?" Ratchet asked not liking this place in the lease,

"No doubt Megatron came here for reason, and here is the sight of the largest cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," the Prime explained, he himself not liking the ominous glow coming from the low light of the setting sun,

"On earth? You must be joking," Ratchet scoffed, not believing what the Prime had to say but his serious stare was enough to convince the medic,

"Do you remember late in the war, when both sides began to hide their energon spoils off world?" Optimus asked, turning down another passage,

"Of course, it's the reason energon deposits exist on planets such as this one," Ratchet followed Optimus into a large open canyon, the walls of stone reaching high into the sky, allowing more of the little light this are had to illuminate the half buried metal shells of once living cybertronians,

"it was also the reason that battles were waged on planets such as this one, and I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history," Optimus sighed, noting many of the fallen as Autobot soldiers amongst the many Decepticon dead,

"But again Optimus, why would Megatron come here?" Ratchet asked, a little unnerved by all this death,

"Allow me to show you!" bellowed a deep and all too familiar voice. Soaring over head and landing on a nearby cliff face, "Optimus, been well?" Megatron asked, as if greeting an old friend rather than an old enemy, "I see you brought your...trusty watch dog. I would've thought he would be convalescing in some worthless scrap heap by now," gesturing to Ratchet, pulling a growl from the older bot,

"Why don't you invite him down for a _chat_," Ratchet hissed, glaring at the smirking warlord,

"Why are you hear Megatron?! What possible reason could you have to desecrate this resting place?!" Optimus called, looking at the laugh Decepticon leader,

"I'm surprised Optimus, even after all these eons we've been pitted against one another. But now, your time is at an end," Megatron revealed a glowing shard of some kind, throwing this object to the ground far below where is seemed to be swallowed up. The ground rumbled and shook, splitting the earth with an ethereal shriek as the light flowed like poison. The corpses twitched and flicked until the poison consumed them, reanimating what was already dead. Optimus and Ratchet watched in shock as these once proud Autobots and Decepticons were now forced back into a damned existence.

"ARISE MY ARMY! BEHOLD! THE POWER OF DARK ENERGON!"

* * *

Jane could not believe her luck. What had first been a simply monitoring assignment after Raf had helped locating Agent Fowler and the remaining bots ran through to get him back, was now a rush to survive as she tried to keep the vehicons away from Jack and Raf. Miko had been an idiot and ran through the ground bridge, following Bulkhead and Bumblebee into battle. She was thankful that Miko was with Bulkhead at present but that left the rest of them out n the open. Bumblebee had managed to get Jack but Raf had tripped as they tried to get to Autobot scout.

Jane had gotten to the young boy before the Vehicons could grab him, grabbing her instead. Now she was grasped tightly in a vehicon's grip,

"Take the human to the brig. Commander Starscream is dealing with the other one there," the drone's monotone voice drawled, giving Jane just what she wanted to know, now she just needed to get away.

Suddenly, a screech of tires pulled their attention down one of the many hallways and, in a flash of red and blue, Cliffjumper and Arcee plowed through, catching Jane before she hit the ground,

"Jane, you alright?" Arcee asked, worry in her voice,

"I'm cool, it's the kids I'm worried about," Jane smiled despite the situation,

"We got the bulletin, let's find'em before the cons do," Cliffjumper stressed, his arm transforming into a cannon and pointed down one of the corridors, nodding Arcee picked Jane up to ride on Cliffjumper's shoulder as they took off. Running down the main hallway another was coming up in their left. Cautiously, Arcee transformed her weapon while slowly coming around the corner. Venting her tanks, she snapped around to stare down Bulkhead and Bumblebee,

"Friendly!" Arcee cried, pulling her gun back,

"Hello!" Bulkhead yelled, both putting down their weapons, Cliffjumper and Jane came around to see Bulkhead holding Miko while Bumblebee held Jack and Raf,

"Jane! You're okay!" Raf beamed, as Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper placed the humans back on the ground, the younger boy ran and hugged Jane, "When that con..." Jane stopped Raf with a smile,

"It's my job to put the lives of others before mine," she smiled, ruffling his hair but she turned to glare at Miko,

"Well settle all of this back at base, right now we need to find Agent Fowler and get you guys out of here," Arcee stated, watching the 2 human females,

"The cons who grabbed me said Will was in the brig with Starscream, I hope he's okay," Jane sighed, the thought not sitting well with her, but as they were to move out a group of vehicons came running down the hallways.

The Autobots jumped into action, taking on the Decepticon drones, unfortunately the humans were caught in the middle of the slaughter. Weaving back and forth between pedes and falling hardware, Jane had managed to grab the kids and pin them to the wall, shielding them from any debris.

Onepce the weapons fire stopped, Jane pulled back from the wall and they all looked over the damage. All the cons that had attacked were dead, parts lying everywhere as the bots counted injuries. Not wishing to stay much longer, the bots guided the humans onto the main bridge, storming the room and taking out any vehicon still inside. Once the coast was clear, they signaled their charges into the room,

"Wait in here, it'll be safer then tailing us," Arcee ordered, before Miko could make a comment, Jane stepped forward,

"No problem Cee, just get Will back in one piece," nodding, the Autobots ran out and the door sealing behind them. A moment of silence crossed them before Miko turned to them,

"That was intense," she smiled, practically beaming before Jane had had it, giving the juvenile girl a swift smack upside of her head, "Hey! What was that for?!" she snapped,

"For being an idiot, not only are you putting yourself in danger but you put others in danger too," Jane snapped,

"Jane's right, it's your fault we're stuck in this 'intensity', what were you thinking?" Jack snapped, though Jane was angry with the young girl, their immature arguing seemed to be upsetting Raf, he looked about ready to burst,

"Enough!" Jane snapped, causing both youths to jump, "As pissed off as I am right now, we'll deal with the blame later, right now we need to do as the Autobots say and wait here, preferable out of sight before anymore cons walk in," Jane snapped, leading Raf away from the warring teens, "I swear it's like high school all over again," she muttered, sitting under a nearby console with Raf sitting close.

"Wait a sec. Raf, what do you make of this?" Jack asked, pointing up at the console. Getting up, the young boy walked to the others with Jane in tow, looking at some diagram on the screen,

"It's important, _Really_ important," Raf gasped,

"If it's important to the Decepticons then we need to get it to Optimus," Jane may not have been the best at math, but the years of mind-numbingly long equations and watching Ratchet with his own, it was one serious equation,

"How do you its not a recipe for Space Nachos?" Miko asked, not fully convinced,

"Really? Space nachos?" Jane looked to the girl as if she were nuts,

"I know math when I see it, and that is one serious equation," Raf affirmed, looking around the base of the platform,

"Can you...download it?" Jack asked,

"Wouldn't work. Unlike the bots, the cons have access to cybertronian technology, there is no compatibility between the 2. Maybe we can take a picture of it at least, anyone got a phone or camera on the?" the one time she decides to leave her phone back at base,

"Covered," Miko pulled out her phone and aimed for a picture, but the sound of the bay doors opening revealed a vehicon. Thinking fast, Jack pulled Miko under the console while Jane grabbed Raf and made a dive for one of the corpses, not fast enough to take cover. From where they hid, Jane noticed the offline mech's arm was still in gun form, checking it over, she tried to discretely aim the cannon as the con surveyed the room. But the sound of screeching metal caught his attention, arming his own gun,

"Raf! Jane!" Miko and Jack cried, but just as the con was to fire, Jane pulled the right wire, getting thrown back by the cannons recoil but successfully blasting the con's helm. They watched, almost transfixed, as the frame crumpled and fell to the ground.

"Woah," Raf gasped, turning to see Jane getting back on her wobbly feet, "Are you okay?" he asked, Jack and Miko following close behind. The moment she felt the recoil, a shiver ran through her, and her headache came on again,

"Yeah...dandy...did someone get that picture?" she asked, holding her head. Miko pulled out her flip phone, lined the screen and took the picture. By then, the bots roared into the room,

"Come on!" Arcee cried, Jack running to her while Miko and Raf ran to Bumblebee. Jane managed to make it to Cliffjumper while her head was knocking her brain about,

"Another headache?" he asked, his voice showing his concern,

"Yeah, but I've had it since the kids decided to have a death wish," she sighed, "but it's getting better. Did you find Will?" she asked, as if answering her Agent Fowler's voice sifted through Cliffjumper's radio, but he sounded loopy, as if he was high,

"_You found Fowler! Rock on!_" Miko yelled, only aggravating her once dulling migraine,

"So much for a day off,"

* * *

Once back at base, Optimus and Ratchet's return was met with concern and worry. Fowler was placed on a stretcher to recover and Optimus helped Ratchet get his arm in a brace, allowing his internal repair protocols to kick in.

"What happened to you guys?"Miko asked, looking to the wounded medic and the concerned leader,

"We engaged a legion of undead cybertronian warriors," Ratchet explained, testing his braced arm,

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?!" Miko snapped, receiving a groan from Jane,

"But how did this happen? How were they brought back?" Jane asked, dreading what fate had befallen the dead,

"Megatron has harness a substance we were lead to believe to be non existent...Dark Energon," the very word made Jane shiver, but why? "Bulkhead, you exercised poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you," before Bulkhead could respond Jane stepped forward,

"No Optimus, it was mine. Bulkhead and Bumblebee left their safety with me, and I lacked the better judgement to keep the boys here while I went to retrieve Miko," Jane admitted, "But in light of that, we did manage to find something that may be important to the Decepticons," gesturing to Miko, she showed Optimus and Ratchet the image,

"I...don't understand," Ratchet stated, raising an eyebrow Jane looked at the picture,

"Miko, when did you take a picture of a Vehicon?" Jane glared down at the girl,

"Oh sorry, that was the con that nearly blasted you and Raf, until you gave it some of their own medicine! That was a sweet headshot!" she smiled, causing Jane to freeze,

"You took down a Decepticon? How?" Ratchet asked, though more so demanded,

"Not the case right now," Jane replied, her headache coming on again and the arguing teens weren't helping it,

"Miko, Jane and Raf were almost killed, this isn't a game!" Jack snapped, "When are you going to get that through your thick skull!" the louder and more heated the conversation got, the worse Jane's headache became,

"Ah, we were _all_ almost killed Jack, them as well!" Miko snapped, turning away from the argument, Raf noticed Jane staggering,

"Guys?" he soft voice going unheard,

"Then if this is a normal day with the bots, then I want nothing to do with this!" Jack snapped again,

"Guys..." came a weak, strained voice. Everyone turned to Jane, noticing how she leant on the railing, her face pale and pained with a shaking hand on her head, "Stop..." she never finished as her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed,

"Jane!" Raf cried, Ratchet and the kids following close behind, "What happened to her?!" Raf panicked, resisting as Jack pulled him back,

"It must be her headaches, I knew something was wrong!" He cursed, "Arcee, collect Jane and bring her over here," he ordered, the small femme didn't argue as she slowly gathered Jane up and followed Ratchet, lying the woman down on the over sized berth,

"Will she be okay?" Miko asked, surprising as it was for the young girl to be concerned even after the disagreements the 2 shared,

"We don't know. Agent Dalton has been with us these last few months but all we know of her is what she has told us, and what Agent Fowler has briefed us on. The extent of these headaches are unknown to us," Optimus sighed, watching the medic direct Arcee's servos since she was the smallest out of the team, thus she would be able to conduct more delicate procedures. He noticed Cliffjumper wasn't too far away from the unconscious woman, he was her guardian after all and Optimus could only fathom how powerless the front-liner was feeling right now,

"We'll, if this is an average day with the autobots...then I don't want to be apart of it, not anymore," Jack sighed, looking to Jane and only guessing what was wrong,

"Jack, putting you in harms way was never our intent, however it is no long the safety of you 3 that is at risk...but the safety of all human kind, we will respect your decision if you wish to leave," Optimus sighed, the whirring of the ground bridge kicking up courtesy of Ratchet,

"Jack," a strained voice whispered, the young boy looking to where Jane lay, "Leaving would make no difference...so long as the Decepticons are on this planet, you'll be at risk, and these bots could use your help," she groaned, Arcee forcing her to lie back and Cliffjumper rushing to her side,

"I...this is just to much, too dangerous," Jack rebutted, looking to the agent,

"I felt the same...but I thought about my family," that made him perk, "They may not know what I do...by the thought of them getting involved, where I have no power to help them...we've been through too much in our lives to ever go through that pain again...you haven't, don't through this opportunity away...the bots can help you just as I know you can help them," she hissed as another wave raked her head, before sighing as it left,

Jack took a moment, thinking about what she had said; in this moment he was concerned for his own safety, but then his mother came to mind. Should he leave the protection of the bots, he'd be forfeiting his mother's as well, despite her lack of knowledge of them, the protection reached her too. Looking to the Autobots leader, he sighed,

"Can...can you guarantee you protect us...and our families?" He asked, Miko and Raf looking up for the Prime's answer,

"We swore to protect you all, at any cost. Our war did not involve your planet, so we will make the precaution to protect all human life from the Decepticons," with that, Jack stayed his feet,

"Then...I'll stay."

* * *

Jane hated lying back like this, sure her headache had dulled and left her some time ago but Ratchet was adamant that she was to remain where she was, lying on a berth away from the conflict around her.

She had watched as her friends, those she had come to see as family more so than friends, make a risky jump into Earth's orbit. She chuckled at Ratchet's comment of not forgiving them if he was left alone with humans,

"Come on Ratchet. We're not all bad," she smiled, looking at the brooding mech. He made a glance to the kids before leaning closer to Jane,

"Honestly, you are the only human I can tolerate," but left just as quickly as he had come, a smile creeping onto his faceplates despite the matter, it warmed her heart to know he did care,

But a new development occurred at the site of the space bridge, the Decepticon's interstellar navigation was disabled that's to Bulkhead's escapade on the Nemesis prior to rescuing Agent Fowler,

"_Great job Bulkhead. Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the bridge at Cybertron_," Optimus commed in, reporting back to base,

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked, looking up at the console,

"Naturally, but Cybertron is many light years away, to get there their aim must be astronomically precise," Ratchet explained,

"_If Megatron went to the trouble of randevou with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one," _Optimus buzzed again, causing concern for the rest of them back at base,

"From what I know of earth technology, i doubt there would exist a single radio-telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron," Ratchet huffed,

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio-telescope dishes?" Raf asked, his fingers skimming over the computer terminal Jane normally used, "Like the giant-size array in Texas,"

"Good thinking Raf!" Jane smiled, cutting off Ratchet's comment, "Optimus, i have clearance to sound an alter in William's absence, I'll contact the base for evacuation but we may still need someone on the inside," she explained, carefully climbing off of her berth to get to Agent Fowler,

"She's right. Their firewalls are too thick," Raf added, frustrated with being unable to crack the code,

"You? You think you can keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet gawked, not so much condescending but intrigued by the boy's boldness,

"Maybe, if I could get in," Raf sighed,

"Then like Jane said, we'll need to get inside the base," Jack added, watching as Jane came back,

"I could access their internal network, on the other side of the firewall," Raf smiled,

"Made the call. Told the techs there were maintenance works are going to be carried out and they could have the day off. Didn't question it," she smiled, "But if you guys are going, I'm going too,"

_"The risk is too great. The Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site_," Optimus warned, his voice concerned and stressed to show the kids and Jane just how dangerous this endeavour was,

"Optimus, with all due respect, you said it yourself-this is bigger than the safety of 3 humans," Jack recited, taking the Prime's own words,

"Yeah! If we let the cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet," Miko cheered, they already knew she would jump at the chance and Optimus was humbled by Jack's words,

_"Raf? Jane?"_ Said woman gapped, that was the first time since she joined the bots and agent fowler that Optimus ever said her name,

"I wanna give it a shot," Raf agreed,

"Don't worry Optimus, I won't let anything happen to them," Jane added, smiling from the Autobot leader saying her name. Preparations were made and they were bridged to the site.

Getting in was easy since there was no one here, as was finding a secure room. Jane stood watch as the others watched Raf. She had a bad feeling about this; if the cons were here they had yet to show themselves. Jane watched as Raf worked, but a blinking light caught her eye; a security camera was active! Her lockdown should turned off all the security networks in the facility.

"Damn it!" She cursed, pulling the door closed and locked,

"Jane, what is it?" Jack asked watching her try and move a shelf in the room, barricading the door,

"The cons had accessed the security feeds, the maintenance lockdown should've turned them off," she stressed, propping the shelf against the door, "No doubt they've seen us, come he me with this, Raf keep them from targeting Cybertron!" She ordered, both Jack and Miko grabbed whatever else they could to seal the door while Raf worked. In he other room, Soundwave had indeed seen them through the feeds, one of his probes removed itself to deal with the interlopers.

Once it reached the door, it couldn't open it. The doors was unlocked but perhaps the humans inside had prevented the door from opening. Inside, they could hear the probe hitting the door,

"Oh no," Raf gasped, Jack Jane and Miko ran to the door to brace it,

"Don't stop Raf! Keep them out!" Jane ordered, feeling the door push despite their efforts, the creaking of door buckling under the intruder's efforts to break in. No matter how hard the 3 pushed back, the intruder pushed harder until to almost broke through,

"Hold on!" Miko called, running off to grab a fire axe from the wall, but in her haste their push weakened enough for Soundwave's probe to break through. Jane made a grab for Raf as the probe smashed the computer they were using. Miko had rushed forward to strike the appendage with the axe but was easily over powered...and she had granted their enemy with a new weapon,

"You handed it an AXE!" Jack screamed, all trying to dodge the flailing limb but watched stunned as it retreated,

"Come on!" Jane cried, squeezing the door open enough for them to get through and ran into the main server room. High on the roof, through the glass ceiling was a faceless bot. Jane looked to the con and froze. There was something about this bot that screamed "deadly". Hearing a camera click, she saw Miko had taken a snap of the con, why? She didn't know, but the same sound was made by this new silent bot, before he transformed into a surveillance predator drone.

"Raf, did they?" Jane got her answer from the look on the boy's face,

"He cut the hardline, the dishes are locked onto Cybertron permanently," he sighed.

* * *

It was the calm after the storm. The bots had just made it back to base after blowing the space bridge in Earth's orbit, taking the legion of undead cybertonians and Megaton with it. Arcee had been injured before they bridged back, but not fatally. Agent Fowler was even being nicer to the bots after they saved not only him, but the rest of the planet.

Jane felt a little strange, her growing headache had gone but something still seemed to linger. Looking over her friends...her family, she disregarded this feeling as a dull ache. She didn't care, everyone was safe...just how long this calm would last was another question entirely.

* * *

**AN: Okay this marks the end of the 'Rising Darkness' 5 part episodes. Now onto the rest of the series! But I'm curious, is anyone catching the hints I'm making with Jane? I know I'm probably making them too early in the story but I'm just curious. It might be a few chapters before I make reference to this again though.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Transformers Prime **

**Chapter 6**

* * *

The next few days became quiet for the Autobot team; with Megatron gone and the Decepticons trying to regroup from loosing their leader had allowed the Autobots and their human companions some serious down time. As ordered by Ratchet, Jane was now having a proper day off; Cliffjumper had offered to drive Jane around but all she needed to do was buy groceries and some new clothes, otherwise she just wanted to kick back, practise her violin or maybe catch a movie.

Pulling on her favourite jeans, a band tee with "Lordi" printed on the front, a badge covered vest and one of her favourite accessories; a light grey fedora with a black wrap. Kicking on some leather riding boots, she felt ready for a good day off but in the back of her mind, she just wanted to check on the others before she committed to anything today.

Stepping out of the house, she smiled seeing her ol'red faithful waiting for her,

"Wow, I've never seen you so...casual before Jane," Cliffjumper gawked, opening his door for her like a gentlemech, pulling her smile bigger than it was before,

"I dress for my day, besides I've been dying to wear these for like ever!" She sighed dramatically, laughing with her mechanical friend,

"You know hatchet will kick you out of the base if he sees you come in, right?" He wasn't really asking a question but Jane shrugged all the same,

"I'm just checking in them, I'm not going there to work," she assured, relaxing into the soft leather making up Cliffjumper's seats, watching as they drew closer to base. Watching the doors open and close behind them, Cliffjumper pulled into the main room and allowed Jane out, both looked questioningly at the sight before them; Ratchet was hunched over what could only be guessed was a volcano, a mechanical volcano.

"Uhhh, what is Ratchet doing?" Jane asked, walking up to the kids, but Miko happened to notice her new attire,

"Well well, look who's trying to fit in," she snickered, only earning a couple of eye rolls from the boys,

"Check out my Facebook then, you find I am not one to conform, but that didn't answer my question," she stated, watching Miko raise an eyebrow and head straight to he nearest computer,

"Science fair projects, but Ratchet is convinced to doing all 3 for us," Jack replied, watching the medic work with an odd and almost sinister gleam in his optics,

"He does realise that the point of making something for the fair is to give a more hands on experience with science, right?" She asked, but it was obvious that he didn't. Then an idea jumped in and a slight grin took her face, "Hey Ratchet," she walked towards the emergency medic, noticing he didn't even acknowledge her,

"Can't talk. Science fair projects. Busy," he mumbled, Bulkhead and Arcee groaning in the background,

"I know, which is why I think we should, oh I don't know, leave you to your work. You do work miracles when no one is around," she boasted, watching as the medic haunted in his works to look at the adolescent agent,

"Yes...you have a point...Bulkhead, Arcee, Cliffjumper, go...patrol or something, I need peace and quiet," he ordered, flicking his servos at the trio,

"Then, I'll take the kids off your servos, they might get in the way of genius," she smirked, walking back, not bothering to hear his vapid response. Looking to the confused kids, she winked,

"Bulk, you wouldn't mind taking us around would you?" She asked,

"Um, nah I don't mind," he replied, just as confused,

"You don't mind that Cliff?" She asked, but she smiled at the gears turning in that helm of his. He glanced to Arcee, smirking as he took her servo,

"You have fun kids, we're on patrol!" He beamed, pulling Arcee out behind him and her echoed chuckles dying down as they ran out. Jane sighed at the sweet moment, despite Miko gagging at the romance shared by the 2. Jumping into Bulkhead's driver's seat, Miko next to her and the boys in the back,

"First stop, our local warehouse," she stated, directing Bulkhead down the deserted road,

"Why are we going there?" Raf asked, pulling a smirk on Jane's face,

"You all are going to do your projects, away from Ratchet's meddling, and I'll help you where I can," she replied, seeing their shocked expressions, even Bulkhead had swerved in surprise at the thought of doing such a thing behind Ratchet's back,

"But what about Ratchet?" Jack asked, "Won't he get mad if we do this while he's making the...other projects?" Jane looked to Jack, her gaze sarcastically asking 'really?'

"Ratchet doesn't yet understand that Cybertronian science, though impressive, will be frowned upon by human society because its too advanced. The fact of the matter is that by allowing him to do this doesn't help him or you. He needs to learn, easy or hard way, that earth is very different from Cybertron," she stated, watching as Bulkhead parked right outside the main entrance of the local hardware store,

"But what about money?" Miko asked, watching as Jane pulled out her wallet,

"I said I'd help however I can. Now come on we're burning daylight," she ushered the kids out, promising Bulkhead they wouldn't be too long as they disappeared inside.

True to her word, only an hour or so later, the kids walked out with their supplies. Piling into Bulkhead, they headed back to Jane's place to work on their projects, again Bulkhead got curb duty, though he didn't mind as he had fallen into recharge by the time Jane allowed the kids in.

"Wow, sweet place you got here," Miko smiled, running over to the soft couch, dropping her bags and relaxing into the pillows,

"Working for the government has its perks, now onto projects," she smiled, clearing what little was in the lounge to give them space. As they prepared, she moved into the kitchen to make up some drinks while the kids set up. By the time she came out with 4 mugs of steaming hot chocolate and coffee, the kids had already started their projects. Setting the drinks in the table she watched, but when it looked like they were alright, she decided to fiddle around with her violin,

"Hey Jane," Jack piped up, catching the agent's attention, "I've noticed all these pictures are of the same 3 guys, are they your family?" He pointed to one in particular, a small giggle passed her lips when she recalled that funny New Years in Times Square,

"Yeah, my dad and 2 older brothers; Gary and Sebastian. But I just wonder if I'm not the oldest by the way those 2 act," she smiled, recalling old memories concerning the 3 men,

"What about her?" Raf asked, pointing to a picture in the centre of mantle piece, she was very different from Jane as her hair matched her father's fiery auburn while the woman's was a deep brown like Gary's and Sebastian's but while her brothers shared their father's eyes, Jane and the woman had matching eyes - a glistening bright teal. Looking back to Jane for her answer, they was surprised to find her bright smile that came with looking at her father and brothers drooped into a sorrowful frown.

"That's...my mother," she replied, turning from the picture as her bottom lip began to quiver,

"What happened?" Jack asked, treading on thin ice since the subject suggested DIY was a sensitive matter. All 3 watched as Jane seemed to consider her words before looking to them again,

"She...went away...a long time ago...I'd rather not talk about it," in saying that, the kids dropped the subject, even Miko took the hint to leave it be. By the time night came, the kids had finished their projects. Ratchet had commed Jane to bring the kids back to collect their projects but she advised him how sleep was important to kids their age and promised to collect them for them later. Each parent came and collected their child, believing it to be a peer support session.

When Jack went to leave, he turned back to find Jane holding the photo of her mother,

"You gonna be alright Jane?" He asked, once again treading carefully,

"Keep your mother close Jack," she didn't look at him as she held the frame tightly, "Cause you'll never know how precious she is until she's gone," Jack nodded, not questioning her advise as he met up with his mother, loading his project into the back of the car,

"So, how did it go?" Judy asked, looking to her son but only found a solemn look on his face, "what's wrong honey?" She asked,

"Nothing mom, just...something our peer leader said," he answered, Judy left it there as they drove for home.

* * *

Ratchet was none too happy to find Jane had gone behind his back and allowed the kids to handle their projects. He had ranted for a good 10 minutes before he realised Jane was asleep at her terminal, deeply in fact. Looking at the woman strangely and decided to leave her be, for now; when she woke up her aft was his.

It wasn't until and hour or so later that she jumped up awake, but she still left exhausted, and her dreams weren't helping. Getting up limply, she moved to a small dispenser she had brought in a little while ago and set the machine for an extra strong coffee. She dumped 4 teaspoons of sugar to willow away the bitter taste. Holding the steaming cup in her hand, something in the back of her energy deprived mind something clicked and she chugged he coffee down, not minding the scolding temperature or the mildly bitter taste. The moment she was done, she immediately made another, repeating the process. It wasn't until her 4th coffee disappearing down her throat and making a 5th that she realised what she had done. Her throat and tongue had a numbing tingle from where the coffee had burned but no damage done. Her stomach churned with the amount of bitter caffeinated liquid now occupied it.

Placing her new coffee down, feeling her exhausted mind only slowly clicking to alert as she filled a tall glass with water and began to drink that down before the team walked in. Ratchet was finished fussing over Bulkhead and Bumblebee from their latest endeavour to the arctic and was now preparing Optimus and Arcee for their exploration run. After mentioning something they had found in all that ice and snow, Ratchet looked to Jane with a suspicious frown,

"And how many if those processor rotting beverages have you had?" He demanded much less asked Jane, but she didn't feel inclined to say,

"Not many," she lied, almost gulping down her fifth mug but Optimus stepped forward,

"Jane," oh she was in for it now, she had come to learn if Optimus called her my her name and not 'Agent Dalton' then he was going to lecture her, "If Ratchet believes these beverages will do you harm, he can not offer help unless you speak truthfully," man! it was like being at home again,

"Coffee is a natural neural stimulant Optimus, there is nothing harmful about it," she replied, but Ratchet quipped at her,

"This Caffeine can most certainly do you harm," Ratchet snapped, "it's classified as a psychoactive drug for a reason and could kill you should you consume too much,"

"Oh will you just get off my back!" She snapped, causing surprise to cross everyone's faceplates before she realised what she had done, "I...I'm sorry. I just...haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately," she mumbled, tipping the remainder of her coffee down the drain,

"Why? You always say once you hit those...what ever you call'em pillows? you drop right off," Cliffjumper stated, looking on with concern for his charge and friend,

"Nightmares. I get them sometimes. I'd rather not say from where since that's private...and hard to talk about," she replied, looking to them, "I promise I won't drink so much coffee here anymore," she stated but before any further investigation into her sleeping habits and general health, Bulkhead and Bumblebee returned to base with the kids in tow.

Jane took this as a hint to walk away from Ratchet and nurse a glass of water on the sofa in the human rec area. She had noticed from her seat that Raf felt left out when Miko and Jack snatched the game controllers,

"Hey Raf, you wanna go for a walk?" She asked, seeing the little boy wanted company. He nodded eagerly as the 2 walked away from the others, Jane was glad to be away from Ratchet's angered murmurs, something about the Ground Bridge malfunctioning.

* * *

Jane had no idea that this day would go from a sleep depraved Saturday to a protect friends from metal piranha machine day. Raf had found what was called a sraplette - a parasitic Cybertronian smaller than a human that eats metal of all types, its favourite being living metal. Jane had never seem Bulkhead so scared, or Cliffjumper. But since the scraplettes seemed to ignore their human allies, she was stationed to be Cliffjumper's protector, as much as she could.

Now, she was searching one of the corridors with said guardian, holding her trusty side arm while a Cliff was cautious and gun arm raised.

"I hope that human gun of yours does some damage," Cliff shivered, everyone made of metal had been on edge which was understandable when one was being stalked by hungry predators,

"It seemed to on the one Raf found, and their heads are big enough to use as a target," she replied, hearing a familiar skittering she cocked her gun and readied herself to fire it when the skittering increased.

Suddenly the corridor was swarming with Scraplettes, both them open fired as the little terrors made a beeline for Cliffjumper. Jane's bullets ripped through the tiny bodies with ease and each bullet hit its mark, but she was running low on ammo and fast,

"Cliff! Fall back!" She screamed, grabbing a loose pipe from the wall and knocked off the scraplettes that managed to get to her guardian. Limping back the to main control room, they only found more scraplettes, an entire swarm descending to feed. The humans tried their best to keep the bulk of the hoard off of their Autobot friends but many still got through. Taking Jack's idea, the kids equipped themselves with fire extinguishers and blast the bots, instantly freezing and deactivating the pests.

Jane was running out of ammo and the panic in the room was causing another headache, but something was different. Ratchet swatted a scraplette off of him when he turned to look at Jane. She had froze, why he wasn't sure but when he tried to call out, she instantly sprung into action, pulling open a hidden panel near the stairs, a rack of human weaponry - no doubt left by the previous tenants of the silo - and pulled out a nasty looking assault rifle.

Her precision was not what the Autobots would have expected to the well mannered woman. Cocking the gun, she took aim and open fired. The gun shots reverberated around the chamber, disorientating and disposing of the scraplettes by the dozens. When she was out of ammo, she had changed clips faster than normal before resuming fire,

"Whoa! Did she just turn into Rambo?" Miko questioned, unbelieving that Jane was seriously dealing damage. But Jack noticed something, it was her eyes; her normally vibrant smiling eyes looked...dead. Hollow. As if she wasn't there anymore.

The swarm turned their attention away from the bots to whoever was taking so many of them out. They flew around the strange assailant and found who she was hurting so many of them. One flew from behind her, slamming into her head. In a split second, she eyes returned to normal, crying out from the painful hit. Doubling when 3 scraplettes bit her arm and causing her to drop her gun which was soon devoured by the hoard as she collapsed next to them. Needing to recoup their loses and forgetting the autobots were there, they left the room.

"Jane!" Raf cried, running to the girl once again. Her head was bleeding as was her arm,

"Quick! The first aid kit is over there," Ratchet snapped, turning to worry over the injured bots while the kids dealt with Jane. He knew her arm needed to be attended to first as if was dangerously close to her artery, she would die of blood loss if it wasn't stopped.

He didn't want to send the kids out to patch the leak in the energon fuel line, no doubt the reason behind the ground bridge still malfunctioning, but they could get past the scraplettes without trouble.

Leaving the unconscious Jane with them, Jack, Miko and Raf made their way along the line and found the breach. But they couldn't get back in time as the swarm made their way to their next meal. Running back into the main control room, they found a half frozen Optimus and Arcee trundle in with an injured Bulkhead. Cliffjumper was immediately at Arcee's side, fussing over the smaller bot while Ratchet, with the kids help, directed everyone to the medbay.

* * *

Slowly, Jane began to regain consciousness.

"Why is it since I got here, I either feint or someone puts my lights out?" She asked aloud but to no one in particular. Clearing her vision she found everyone in need of repairs, jumping when she heard Miko scream bloody murder about a spider,

"Did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asked, making out as a joke,

"You do realise she is a girl right?" Jane asked, sitting up as everyone looked to her,

"Jane, are you okay?" Ratchet asked, but he was unable to move from his position,

"Better than one can be after getting hit in the head...what hit me anyway?" She looked confused, growing when Ratchet gave her that 'you're serious?' look,

"You were hit by a Scraplette, have you sustained memory loss?" He asked, now concerned but sighed in relief when she shook her head,

"No, but the last thing I remember you, bulkhead, bee and Cliff were coved in those buggers...was I in the wrong place at the wrong time?" She asked, now truly confusing the others,

"No, you went commando on those pest, even pulled out a bigger gun and shot half of them to the pit, you've got killer aim," Jack smiled, but then he saw her confused expression, "Jane?"

"Maybe I did forget something," she sighed, not sounding convinced, "I might lying down for a little longer," The others looked on concerned, but what they didn't see was Jane's fearful expression.


	7. Chapter 7

**Transformers Prime**

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Since the incident with the Scraplettes, Jane seemed a bit more distant toward the others. Sure she still held that infectious smile and cooperative work ethic but when asked about what happened during the infestation, or even regarding her sleeping habits and headaches, she would dodge the questions or fake having not heard them, trying anything to avoid giving an answer.

Given another rest day on Ratchet's orders, she had returned to the base with Miko, her usual boisterous self, dragging her up to their newest arrival. Cliffjumper was also taken by surprise by the newest bot but he seemed to know him,

"Wheeljack?! You old cog licker, how've ya been?!" he cackled, almost tackling the white bot,

"Cliff? I haven't seen you since the siege in the sea of rust," Wheeljack chuckled, clasping fits with his old acquaintance. Jane smiled at how happy Cliffjumper seemed at meeting an old friend, much like Bulkhead had when he joined the 2,

"Fighter class, can't live with them," Arcee sighed, looking to Cliffjumper with a smile, glad in seeing her partner happy,

"Can't live without him, it seems too," Jane smiled, catching a blush on Arcee's faceplates, "You 2 are made for each other, you know that right?"

"Oh don't go playing matchmaker on me, Jane," she chuckled, giving the human a lift to the floor above, "But for all its worth, thanks. Just having him close by is enough. If you weren't with him when those cons attacked," Jane stopped her sad train of thought with a smile. Nothing needed to be said, they were good friends and they knew each other well enough to keep it at that.

The next hour was spent getting to know Wheeljack; Cliffjumper and Bulkhead rambled off all the times they were with the Wreaker, mostly Bulkhead since both he and Wheeljack were part of the Wreakers. Cliff was just partnered with the wild fire from time to time back on Cybertron before the great exodus.

"So, who's this little human…she looks different to the others," Wheeljack inquired, walking over to Jane when he finally noticed her. Since she was finally allowed back to work she was wearing her usual casual professional attire. But this time she sported wide black dress pants with a thick support waist-belt, a light blue blouse under a navy blue waistcoat along with her trusty black steel cap boots.

"Name's Jane, any friend of the bots is a friend of mine," she smiled, offering her hand to the Wreaker, though he seemed a little confused how he could return the gesture. Extending his finger, she gripped it firmly and shook,

"Got quite a grip for a human," he smirked, pulling back, "I hope you and that other femme are keeping Bulky out of trouble," causing Jane to laugh,

"Sorry, my hands are full with Cliffjumper, would've gotten slagged if I wasn't around," she smirked, looking to the spluttering mech who just calmed and smiled in return,

"Good to here," Wheeljack nodded, but he was pulled aside by Optimus with Bulkhead before they could continue. Shaking her head she got back into the swing of things; helping Ratchet where she could, coordinating bots to their patrol routes, manning the Ground Bridge and babysitting the kids.

On such an occasion, almost a week after Wheeljack left, Agent Fowler's voice echoed through the comlinks,

"_PRIME_!" he yelled, causing Jane to cringe,

"No need to yell sir, the Autobots can hear you loud and clear…and you may owe me a new ear," tapping her ear to get feeling back after that audio torture, Fowler quietly apologized,

"_No time for jokes Agent Dalton, I chased off a bunch of Decepticons with hard ordinance but not before they blew me out of the sky!_" the senior agent snapped, stressing how dire the situation was and well as showing a slight strain in his voice, Jane was just glad he didn't hear Miko snicker about said agent being a target once again, "_They tried to smash and grab the DNGS_,"

"The whatsit?" Arcee asked, quirking up an eyebrow,

"_Dynamic Nuclear Generation System, aka DNGS. It's a prototype energy source I porting to the coast for testing_," Fowler explained, grunting as he tried to move, changing the outlook picture to a secure cargo cube no doubt in his V-TOL's storage compartment,

"That's absurd! Why would Starscream bother with such primitive technology?" Ratchet scoffed,

"What in Rome, do as the Romans do?" Jane asked, getting a confused look from the bots, "Meaning, he might be using our technology to use against us, heck I don't even wanna think what he might do if he got his claws on the Atom Bomb," Jane shivered, as did the children,

"_Lets not go there shall we. But you have the right idea, Agent Dalton. If this baby were to meltdown, it would irradiate this state and the 4 next door,_" Fowler agreed,

"Uh…did Agent Fowler say what state he was currently in?" Raf asked, a little nervous and worried about what could happen if what Agent Fowler described came true,

"_I'm a sitting duck out here, Prime. The crash took a turn for the worse and I'm pinned,_" that would've explained why Agent Fowler sounded strained and groaned earlier,

"Do you require medical assistance Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked, concerned for the man's safety,

"_I've called in a Med-evac but I need you to open up your bridge and send the DNGS to it's destination before the Con's come back for it_," he assured them,

"I'm afraid sending such a volatile device through the Ground bridge is out of the question," Optimus explained, "If there were to be an accident during it's transmission, the radiation of which you speak could propagate through the ground bridge vortex and harm all 50 states and beyond," not that was even worse than the Decepticons having the A-bomb,

"_You got any better ideas?_" Agent Fowler asked, the sounds of a med-evac coming closer,

"We could transport the DNGS in vehicular form and should the Decepticons attack, we will be prepared," Optimus explained,

"_All well and good but you'll need a human driver since they won't let in a bunch of unmanned vehicles into the labs. And since I'm out of commission at the moment, who else could?_" he asked, but slowly he turned to Jane, seeing his gaze she froze,

"Whoa hold on sir," she stammered, "I'm just an agent, and…you know my medical stated I couldn't take on any missions," she sighed, as if disappointed by that small fact but stressed she couldn't do what he was asking,

"_Agent Dalton. You will simply be supervising the transport, leave the fighting to the Autobots, understood?_" Agent Fowler affirmed, but it didn't bring her any ease.

* * *

Feeling the breeze whip through her hair felt amazing. Jane was finding this little detail worth the trip. Coming to the site of Agent Fowler's jet and receiving its destination they set off. Sitting in Optimus' cab was certainly an experience; lightly holding the wheel to give the illusion she was driving but simply allowed Optimus to handle the driving,

"Never actually thought I would be on a mission like this," she sighed, enjoying the breeze made by their speeding convoy,

"And why is that, Agent Dalton?" Optimus asked, confused as to why Jane froze at his response,

"I…said that out loud didn't I?" she asked sheepishly,

"Is that a problem?" he asked, watching her closely,

"Well…not really, I guess," she replied, turning to his radio after hearing his sigh,

"Jane," oh boy, he was serious now, "Ever since the infestation, you have become withdrawn. I know I did not witness what had happened but Ratchet relayed the details to me. Someone with limited practice and use of a weapons much like yourself could not have had that type of proficiency," Jane listened, though she didn't like where this was going, "He made note of how you seemed to…change, is there something you have not told us?" he asked, his voice full of concern but he could see Jane hesitate an answer,

"Optimus," she began, thinking on how to word her response, "A lot of stuff has happened in my life," she sighed, looking to the radio, "I'm…just not ready to share right now. I will say that…my life hasn't been all that good," she replied, waiting for him to pry, or argue she should answer him or something on that regard,

"I understand Jane," that was a surprise, she stared at the radio in confusion, "But remember, we are here for you, should you require someone to speak to you need only ask," he replied, watching as a smile bloomed across her lips,

"Thanks Optimus, that means a lot," she nodded but over the rumble of Optimus' engines, Jane could hear something and once she looked out her window, she saw a green helicopter flying not too far behind them. Something stirred inside her, telling her this wasn't good,

"Optimus, we've got a tail," She looked out the door window and Optimus altered his side mirrors to catch a glimpse of the copter,

This was worrying Jane. The bots made no mention of a helicopter based con on earth despite it matching the description Agent Fowler gave them. As Optimus and Ratchet conversed about why the cons weren't coming up on radar, she found a pair of binoculars in the back before sticking her head out the window and got the copter in her sights, coming to a startling conclusion,

"Ah, Optimus, they're not cons," and as to affirm her conclusion, one of the green cars chasing up on them, a human appeared through the sun roof holding a high tech gun,

"Our assailants are not the Decepticons, they are human," Optimus commed, hearing the sounds of disbelief from Ratchet and the kids. And good they were, the humans had tried at many points to separate Optimus from his trailer as well as run Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper off of the road,

"Now I wish these guys were cons, at least then we could actually fight back," Cliffjumper moaned, smashing into another human driven vehicle off the road, no casualties,

"We must maintain our cover unless absolutely necessary. They are still human," Optimus ordered, just making it around a snake bend, Jane was more concerned with keeping herself in her seat, but she looked out to see one of the goons jumping onto the trailer. Her nerves wracked at just what he was doing and knew she had to do something. Calming her nerves with deep breaths, she opened Optimus' door, ignoring his pleas to remain in his cabin, she was able to carefully work her way to the connection, finding their terrorist trying to cut the cabling.

She didn't know what to do, he was there and she had to do something!

_**Push him **_came the impulse, she couldn't stop herself as she did just that. Thankfully, he fell back into the awaiting car but in doing so, causing the car to slip down an incline. Shocked by what she did, she quickly clambered back into the cabin, racking over why she had done that!

"That was too close, one of those hooligans almost severed the connection cables," she sighed, definitely not coping with the situation.

"Easy Jane, we'll be fine," Optimus soothed, something in his seats pulsed and moved, glad to see it taking a soothing effect as she was relaxing but then the walkie-talkie she was using with the others sprung to life,

"_I hope you take care of the DNGS better than your captives_," said the voice, one that made Jane pause but she said nothing as made a grab for,

"What do I say?" she whispered, looking to Optimus,

"Remain calm. You will do fine," he assured her, watching as she took a few seconds before answering back

"This is…Special Agent Jane Dalton here. Identify yourself!" she demanded half-heartedly, waiting for the response,

"_Ah a woman? I see they couldn't send a man to complete such a _mission," he mocked, though he didn't seem all that unimpressed, "_I am Silas, Agent Dalton. But of greater consequence to you, we are MECH_," Now something was definitely up. Jane knew that voice, she remembered hearing it once before…but where?_ "Fair warning: We will be helping ourselves to you devise, even if it means inflicting casualties_," she felt something stir again, before everything went black.

"Is that so? Well, tell me Silas what's the market price for a Dingus these days?" She asked, trying to talk him up and to get a motive from him like she was taught,

"_What makes you think we intend to sell it Agent Dalton?_" that was not the answer she was expecting, especially after all this terrorist group is going through, "_There is a war brewing, Agent Dalton, between the new world order and newest. The winner will be the side armed with the most inovative technology_," she could hear the smirk in his voice, it irked her that she couldn't place the voice to a face,

Looking out of Optimus' side mirror, Jane could see these MECH drivers making a go for the trailer's roller doors,

"Get ready Arcee, they're coming for the door," Jane warned, before turning back to her radio, "Well Silas, I'm afraid to inform you that MECH isn't the only one with all the radical tech," the roar of an engine gave Jane a sembalence of hope when Arcee shot out of the trailer and knocked the cars back, Cliffjumper covering her rear before they rejoined the convoy, "Great work guys...but something tells me we're not out of the woods yet," she sighed,

"Your instincts are correct, Agent Dalton. We cannot take this enemy lightly. Megatron preached the very same ideology before plunging Cybertron into the Great War that destroyed our world," Optimus' voice was ominous, grivened by the past,

"We've already had 2 world wars here on Earth, I hope this won't turn into a 3rd," she hoped, the thought scaring her,

"_Optimus. Prepare to Initiate phase 2_" Ratchet's voice echoed through the comms, "_5 miles ahead to the south you will reach the randevous point_," acknowledging the coordinates, the winding road came in contact with train tracks,

"Autobots, keep a tight formation," Optimus ordered before all the bots moved to run along the tracks, coming off the main road. Their uninvited guests moved to follow but Bulkhead and Cliffjumper ensured they couldn't by blowing the entrance. A short hi-5 was all they could managed before transforming and catching up to the others. Running along side the train, Bumblebee knocked on the side car, watching as they were opened by soldiers, Agent Fowler standing with them,

"Agent Fowler! You're okay!" Jane smiled, looking from Optimus' cab,

"You did good Agent Dalton, but now you are to remain with the DNGS until it reaches its destination," Fowler ordered, holding onto Bee as he moved him to Optimus' cab, Jane wasn't given time to rebutt when Bee took her and placed her in the side car,

"But what about MECH?!" she called,

"I've been breifed, now go! That's an order!" he cried, closing the door to the cap, the bots transforming just as they were coming to the end of the tunnel and Jane was closed in the car as it took off,

"_Agent Dalton...Jane can you hear me?_" Ratchet asked through her own commlink,

"Loud and clear Ratchet. The DNGS is secured and Optimus and the others are leading the others off," she reported, sitting on the floor of the car to await their arrival.

* * *

The mission took a turn for the worse when the Decpeticons made an appearence, engaging the Autobots and forcing them to reveal themselves to the spectating MECH. Silas watched with glee as the rumours concerning living technology were just proven in this battle among titans. Recalling the female agent he had conversed with, Special Agent Jane Dalton, he scanned the battlefield looking for her, only to see an older agent, a man, standing just beyond the fighting. Much like the DNGS, Agent Dalton was missing,

"It must be interesting living amongst Titans, Agent Dalton," Silas smirked, awaiting her responce and to perhaps get a location from her,

"_Sorry, This is Special Agent Fowler. Agent Dalton can't come to the phone right now Si_," came a male voice, no doubt the man standing near the fighting, "_But she did brief me on your little campaign to steal the DNGS. As for my larger friends, come on down here and I'll introduce you_," came a snide replay,

"All in good time, but at the moment I'm too busy wondering how the DNGS and Agent Dalton vanished without a trace," Silas watched a monitor near his seat, smirking at the results of the risigual scan, pinpointing just where the DGNS was. He could only assume while all the vehicles were in the tunnel, the DNGS was transfered over before they exited. No doubt Agent Dalton oversaw the operation and switched places with Fowler, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch,"

* * *

Jane tried to keep herself occupied while the train was still in transit, she had already gotten to know the soldier posted with her in the car, Corproal Jean Pickard, and had tried countless ways of entertaining herself, even offering to clean the corporal's M-16 rifle just to pass the time,

"_Agent Dalton! Jane come in!_" came Agent Fowler's cry through the radio, his tone wasn't one to delay,

"Agent Dalton here. What's wrong Agent Fowler?" she asked, but she didn't get a chance to respond when a sharp current snapped through her. Winded a moment, she turned to see Corporal Pickard convulse and collapse. Shocked, not worrying about her dead radio, she ran to the soldiers side, checking his pulse and vitals, glad to see he was alright,

"_Jane, come in! Are you alright?!_" Ratchet cried through the comlink, thankfully that wasn't shorted out by whatever just happened, the sound of beating rotters didn't help either,

"I'm fine Ratchet but my escort is down," she replied, taking his rifle, checking the magazine and barrel before clicking the safety, "MECH must've found us out," suddenly, a ground brudge opened up in the car, Jack and Miko falling out and into the car, "Jack? Miko? What are you doing here?!" she snapped, running to be to see if they're alright,

"Optimus and the others are fighting the cons, and MECH headed for here," Jack explained,

"They already are," Jane gestured to the downed soldier as the sounds of beating propellers echoed outside of the car. Opening the sliding doors, all 3 saw the helicoptor try and make a landing, "Raf, MECH is trying to land on the train!" Jack cried into his cellphone over the howl of the moving train,

"_Okay, in about 20 seconds, you're going to come to a fork. Brace yourself!_" Raf warned, hearing that Jane held the kids as they came to the turn, almost being thrown at the tight turn but it was enough to evade MECH, but it didn't last long as the helicopter came around and landed,

"What did that buy us? 10 seconds?" Jack asked, watching as the roof was being cut into,

"Raf is loosing his touch," Miko joked, though it wasn' the time for it, Jane looked around to see what to do, what could she do? She had limited gun experience, 2 untrained teens and seasoned soldiers knocking at their door,

_**Fight**_ there it was again, but this time she resisted. If she fought back, the kids or herself might get hurt, but if she didn't..._**FIGHT!**_

Finding no alternative, Jane cocked the gun's safety off and began to climb out,

"Jane! What are you?" Jack cried but got no response as she went over. She clambered over to see 3 men standing near as they tried to cut through the roof, the helicopter not far beyond. Aiming her gun, she stood despite the terbulince,

"Drop the burner and step back!" she ordered, holding her gun at the ready, not so surprised when they just stared at her. _**Show them the folly of their ignorance**_ her glare hardened as she pulled the trigger, but still holding some control she managed to hit one of the men in the arm, "Wanna try again? I promise I won't miss," she hissed, something was definately strange now, it was as if she wasn't in control, like she was standing off stage while someone else was playing her role. She could see and hear everything but it wasn't her calling the shots.

The men followed her orders, stepping back to the helicopter, but another familiar rumble caught her attention. A smile beamed across her face at seeing Optimus, turning back to the chopper with newfound confidence, she stared at the occupants in the cockpit. One man she didn't recognise since he was covered up like the others, but the man next to him: he was older, maybe as old as her father, but stronger looking. Trained no doubt. His silver hair was military cut, straight face with visible scars...familiar scars. His eyes caught her too, shocked and surprise painted his face and though they were at some distance, she could see his lips move, saying something:

"Hannah."

That hit her hard, she recalled a memory from when she was little and others she thought were dreams. She recalled being small, in her mother's arms, looking up at someone resembling him. Then again when she was older, walking and takling, she remembered see him and her mother step away to talk but he tried to...hug her, she got angry and slapped him though it did nothing to him. The last time she could remember him was at a funeral...her mother's funeral. He stood out from the others, being som ways away from the service, he was staring at her,

"My mum?" she wondered how her mother knew this man and why did he say her name? but before anything else could be or done, they took off and flew ahead of the train. A gun went off and just further along, the tracks were blown up...not good.

"Ratchet! MECH blew the train tracks, you need to bridge us out of here! The soldiers too!" Jack called base, Jane could just hear him over the rattle of the train. She couldn't hear Ratchet over the noise but by the kids reactions it wasn't good,

"We're...going to die?" she asked herself, not sure how to feel about that. But something did. Just as Optimus was pulling up, she took off, running with the train to get to the engine, they might still have enough time. Pushed forward, she jumped the gaps with an almost practiced ease before she reached the diesel engine. Using her gun, she smashed through the glass window upon determining she was small enough to slip through, just as Optimus came up along side. Looking around the cabin, she found the emergancy break and pulled back hard, using her wait and the jaring momentom from Optimus holding back the train, she was able to help slow the train with almost 100 metres to spare.

Slumping in the cabin, she smiled as Optimus pulled the door off and helped her out,

"Jane, are you alright?" he asked, concerned after what had happened. He had seen Jane on the roof with MECH, even saw her take a shot at the men but otherwise left unharmed,

"Yes, all things considered," she replied, thanking the larger bot as she was let down to tend to the children. Optimus looked up to see mech still hovering over head before they pulled away. Jane looked up and watched as the Helicopter flew out of sight, it wasn't the last they had seen of them. Seeing them again however would be too soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Transformers Prime**

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Agent Fowler sighed, sitting opposite Jane while the Autobots, who weren't otherwise occupied by their charges, watched on, "Are you telling me you have relations with this Silas whackjob?" he demanded, sounding angered and almost betrayed if his tone was anything to go by,

"No, but I do know him," she admitted, looking to the other for support. She had already relayed her encounter with Optimus as well as the familiarity he had with her, he had urged her to approach William concerning the matter, that her knowledge may prove useful in rooting out this threat,

"And how is it that you know him?" he asked, watching as her expression turned grim,

"My mother did," the eerie silence taking the base wasn't helping her resolve as all eyes and optics were on her,

"You never mentioned your mother before now," Cliffjumper pipped in, missing the look of loss on her face. Fowler reached over and held her hand, a sign that both Ratchet and Optimus noticed,

"Take your time Jane," Fowler sighed, already knowing what she was experiencing,

"I," she began, collecting herself, "There were only a few times where I remember him," she began, peeking to the others as she spoke, "I can distinctly remember one when I was really young, like almost a baby...she was holding me, and speaking to him like he was a friend, I don't remember much since it comes to me like a dream, there and yet just out of grasp,"

"But a name? Anything to tell us who he really is?" Fowler urged, hoping to change the touchy subject,

"It was...a unique name, that much I know," she added, "I can't recall his first name but...Bishop, yeah! Bishop was his surname!" she smiled, glad she could remember something helpful, "And...he was in the army, but not just some regular soldier, I remember peeking into the lounge when he was arguing with mum and dad and he..." she paused as she remembered something else,

"What is it, Jane?" Arcee asked, she was as hopeful as the others,

"He...was a family friend...with mum, but he didn't like dad and he...he broke dad's arm when they fought last. Mum was so angry, she was screaming," Fowler watched her closely as she delved into the memory but like the others, he saw how it affected her, "She told him to leave them alone...that she didn't love him...she said his name too...Le,Lee-something," she sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes,

"Don't push yourself Jane, that is enough," Fowler sighed, it was as good a lead as any, a surname and a partical first name was good, along with the suspect advanced train he undoubtedly had, "I'll get back to HQ and see what I can dig up, for now it's operations as normal," he ordered, much to her relief as she quickly jumped from the chair and returned to her station. The overlooking bots thought it strange how, on the subject of family, was such a delicate subject with her. "I'd recommend against speaking of this again unless she initiates it," Fowler warned,

"It is plain to see she is distressed over the matter," Ratchet added, watching the oblivious Agent, "No doubt something traumatic had occured,"

"For that reason alone, we will heed your warning Agent Fowler," Optimus replied, "But if her mental well-being comes into question, she may need to voice such concerns in order to progress past them," he was slightly surprised but how Agent Fowler shook his head,

"Trust me Optimus, she's been carrying that baggage for some time," he said nothing more as he left and the bots witnessing the exchange said nothing either.

But the tone of the base soon changed when Bulkhead returned with Miko, once again discussing her need to perform in school and avoid detention in favor of a sucessful future. Jane sighed as she watched Miko scale the steps to the designated 'Human Rec Area' while arguing with Bulkhead over College and her future.

"Look Miko, before I became a Warrior, I was a Labourer – Constuction – I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's _it_," Bulkhead tried to reason with the..._ambitious_ would probably be putting it lightly but true nevertheless,

"I love breaking stuff, I want to be just like you Bulk!" she smiled, practically giddy of the idea of making a living breaking something,

"Well, you better get studying sister," Jane piped in, her demeanor changing for the better, "My dad is a labourer as well, same industry too, and _he_ had to go to college to get the education and experience, you won't get far without it,"

"Oh not you too?!" Miko whined,

"It's the make of this world Miko, training and experience is needed in today's society," Jane explained, "And some of those machines aren't as easy to use as you would think,"

"Oh, and how would you know?!" Miko demanded, staring at Jane and seemingly mocked by her grin,

"3 years working as a warehouse receptionist, I had to help the guys out when we were understaffed, got a forklift license to prove it," Jane smirked, "and like I said, they are _not_ easy to use," her expression then turn serious as she approached the young girl, "You're smart Miko, I know it and I can see it, you're not giving yourself enough credit,"

"Yeah, that coming from someone who was probably a geek in high school," Miko snipped, usually Jane would snap back at her insults, so finding her silent was cause enough for Miko to look at her. She came to face a picture of a younger Jane, and to her surprise, her hair was dyed black and in pigtails, streaks and clutches of rainbows littered her hair and face painted with dark makeup. Her clothes were punked and she even had a tattoo,

"Call it a rebellious stage," she smiled, pulling back her phone, "People were too scared to call me a geek," but the sound of beeping paused their conversation as Ratchet worked at the monitor,

"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse...from the nation called Greece," he announced, revealing the map, "An ancient city, quite historic I believe," turning to Jane for confirmation,

"You got it Ratchet, Greece was one of the first Civilizations of the Human race, because of them we have modern day sciences, medicine, astronomy, economics...they are basically the birth of civilized society," she smiled, looking at the small country on the map, "I did a study of Greek culture back at school, it was one of my favourites,"

"Ancient Greece, huh?" Bulkhead thought before an idea snapped into his processor, "Oh, field trip!" he beamed, looking down at Miko,

"Knowing our young Miss Nadakai, she won't get anything done as you envision...if it isn't a bother, agent Dalton," but before Ratchet could even ask, Jane was already grabbing her phone/comlink and sunglasses,

"I thought you'd never ask," she beamed, leaving Miko to moan her displeasure.

* * *

Positively excited over the idea of travelling overseas without the hassel of flying on a plane made the arrival all the more anticipated once Bulkhead cleared the Ground Bridge, opening his doors the 2 girls,

"Here we are!" Bulkhead's cheery voice heightened Jane's excitement as she ran up to the ruins,

"Awesome!" she beamed, touching an old column in marvel while Miko trained behind,

"Yeah...joy," she snipped, "And how is this supposed to be helping me with my future? It's just a punch of old rocks and pictures," she whined, very tempted to follow Bulkhead as he scanned the surrounding area,

"If one does not learn from the past, they are liable to repeat it in the future," Jane recited, turning back to Miko, "Besides, the whole point of the report is to show not only your knowledge of the subject but your recongition, point taking and structure, they is extremely important...that and there are a lot of interesting facts about history you probably won't find in any book," Jane smiled, inticing the curious girl,

"Such as?" while they talked, and laughed uncontroably from Jane's weird Greek facts, Bulkhead was just happy they were getting along again, though it still confused him how they could be friends one moment then be at each other's throats the next. Looking over the site, he found that the humans in the area were escavating the site, hitting energon they didn't even know about,

"Woah!" looking down he found Miko and Jane by his pedes,

"Looks like these were knewly found ruins, an archaelogical find," Jane smiled, spying over the site, "They found some carvings as well," looking to where she was pointing, Bulkhead realised the importance of such a discovery,

"Woah," he gasped, "That's Cybertronian!"

"What? How can you be sure?" Jane asked, not having much luck seeing from their distance,

"It is alright, but why would Ancient Greeks paint an energon harvester?" he asked, turning to Jane and Miko for answers,

"Well...I remember reading about something like that, the Orb of Zeus. The greeks were a primitive people by our standards and probably thought the harvester was a tool of their Gods," she explained, making out some of the markings as vivid as they were to her from here,

"Wow, Bulk, you're smarter than you let on," Miko smiled, pulling out her phone and snapping a shot of the carving, showing it to Jane. Thinking it was a good idea, she too took a detailed picture of the mural,

"But dumber than he looks," came an unknown voice. Spinning around, on the ledge above them was another bot; blue armor and a red face, his gold optics looked down on the 3. Not taking any chances, Jane pushed Miko behind her in case the need to flee was in order,

"Breakdown," Bulkhead hissed, enough reasoning for Jane's move. She could feel Miko grab her hand, feeling a little nervous being between the 2 behemoths. So much for being fearless.

"Miss me?" Breakdown chuckled, spying the 2 girls by Bulkhead,

"Like rust in my undercarriage," Bulkhead glared as he took a step closer to Jane and Miko, preparing to defend them. His tone wasn't bringing any ease to them either, Jane could practically feel the tension along with an unneeded headache.

"You know this lunk head?" Miko asked, stepped next to Jane, feeling a bit more confident with Bulkhead so close by but she never released Jane's hand,

"We have a history," he replied, never taking his optics off of Breakdown,

"And you have pets, how cute," Breakdown scoffed, but raised an eyebrow when Jane stepped forward,

"We're not pets, you tin can rustbucket! Unless you want your engine rearranged so badly it'll take your god to put back right," she hissed, surprising Miko and Bulkhead with such an icy threat, but only caused Breakdown to laugh heartly and loudly,

"Oh I like that one! Maybe I'll take her off you hands, Bulky," he smirked, "But I gotta ask? Do they play catch?" Grabbing one of the pillars from his height, Breakdown hefted the stone column up and threw it at Miko and Jane,

"RUN!" she scream, pulling Miko with her. Ducking out of the way as Bulkhead took the hit, warning them to stay down. But before he could anticipate Breakdown's next move, his 'aquaintance' was already on the move, grappling with him before hurling the surprised Autobot into the mural,

"Oops, hope the pretty picture wasn't too important," Breakdown smirked, but he flinched as a small stone bounced off his helm. Looking back, he saw Jane glaring at him, Miko not too far behind her,

"That's centuries old history you hunk of scrap!" Jane yelled, angered by such disregard but it only seemed to make the bots smirk grow,

"Spunky, careful that won't get you killed," he then turned to transform, speeding off as the girls ran to Bulkhead. Climbing out of the rubble, their little stunt didn't go unnoticed,

"Since when did you become Miko?" he asked, but Jane didn't reply as they decided to head back to base, their photos proof enough to mobilize the others.

* * *

Breifing the bots was one thing, but getting a hold of Fowler was another, apparently he was on a training retreat and was unable to give any help,

"I hate talking to machines," Ratchet grumbled, glaring at the monitor,

"Without Agent Fowler's direct aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own," Optimus sighed, noting Jack's flustered responce,

"Hold on! Confiscate? As in stealing museum property?" Jack gasped,

"That sounds...illegal," Raf whimpered, the thought of having such a mark would not bode well for anyone,

"I do not wish to break Human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary," Optimus replied,

"I might be able to remedy that," Jane smiled, ending a call with someone, "I just spoke with the curator of the museum, convincing him that the orb is a target for theft. He's allowed that we take the orb into federal protection until the thieves are dealt with," she smiled,

"That should give me enough time to rig up a copy," Ratchet added, "I'll get to work on it now," moving to collect his tools and some materials for the replica,

"I'll set up a time after hours for the security guard to let us in," Jane was about to move off to make the call when Jack and Miko stopped her,

"You're going to need our help too," he stated,

"But he might see somethings up if I bring 2 prepubesent teenagers and a young boy with me," looking over Miko and Raf,

"You could...say we're interning, some kind of youth outreach program the FBI is setting up," Raf suggested, truely showing his eagerness to help. Jane pondered a moment, truely thinking against the idea but seeing their hopeful faces caused her to cave,

"Fine. But you have to think up your own back story to your parents, got it?" she watched as all 3 nodded in agreement, but she had the sneaking feeling Miko had her fingers crossed. But their was no arguing about it now that it was decided, she stepped aside to make the arrangements while Ratchet worked quickly to finish the replica...until:

"BULKHEAD! I NEEDED THAT!"

* * *

Night finally came, and their plan was put into motion. Optimus was too the front as Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead covered the building. Stepping into the back entrance, Jane and the kids were greeted by the security guard, thankfully he was gulible enough to believe their intern story and allowed them through.

Operating the Cherry picker, Raf and Miko clambered onto the statue while Jack and Jane helped guide the orb into the cherry picker. But just as they managed to get the orb off and started getting the new replacement in place when a loud resounding crack echoed in the main room. Looking to the front entrance, the humans gasped at the sight of 2 other mech – one Miko and Jane recognised – fighting with the Autobots...and winning!

"It's cons!" Raf gasped,

"No time for that now, come on!" Jane snapped, finally setting the new orb in place before lowering the cherry picker again, "Ratchet, you there?!" Jane opened her com as she jumped out of the lift and guided them around to the access roller doors,

"_I'm here Jane, what's going on?_" his voice filtered through, giving some hope to this mission,

"The cons are here, earlier than we thought. We need a space bridge outside of the museum, Fast!" she stressed, moving around the corner to see the guard had already fled, idiot.

"_It will take a moment to triangluate, get ready,"_ he replied as Jane manned the controls to the roller doors, but a large spindly arm forced the door up the rest of the way, a cold blank screen leering down at her envoked fear to rise within her and the kids,

"Soundwave," Jack gulped, frozen much like the others, but Soundwave remained transfixed on Jane, tilting his head like a confused child before he moved to take the orb,

"Jake! Back it up!" she order, but it was too late and Soundwave had gotten away with the Energon harvester, "Shit!" she snapped, letting her self control go with the wind. This was not good.

* * *

It had taken a number of hours but their was a silver lining to the resent theft of the Energon Harvester. While the other Autobots patroled Earth for its location, Bulkhead knew exactly where to find it. Unfortunately, he had gone alone and against Optimus' orders but was commended for removing the harvester from Decepticon control, in other words – destoyed it.

Right now, Jane was returning the kids home, apologising to their families for keeping them away for a school project and peer session. Once they were all home, Cliffjumper returned her home, but just she she was getting out, he locked his doors,

"Ah, Cliff? Something up?" she asked, looking down at the radio,

"Jane, you're my friend," he stated, his tone wasn't exactly inviting, "So I'm gonna give ya some tough love, what is up you going all blubbery this morning?"

"Cliff, like you said we're friends," he was concerned when her tone also changed, "But _that_, is a no go zone, and friends are not exempt, now let me out," she demanded, trying to pry open the door, but he kept his doors closed and drove around to the back of the house, giving him a chance to talk.

There was a large rock behind her new home that would allowing him to stand at full height and, if she stood at the top, they'd be on equal ground. Transforming around her, he plopped her down ontop of the rock and stood there,

"No way, if you're getting upset about this and keeping it bottled up, it's not good for you or the people around you," he stated, watching as she stood and completely ignored him, trying to figure out a way down on her own merits, "Jane!"

"NO! Cliff!" she snapped, refusing to look at him, "You have no right to demand anything of me! To ask something like that!"

"I do when it's obviously hurting you! I don't care if Optimus told us not to, I care about you and I want to help!" he snapped again, preventing her from escaping her elevated platform, fuming at his arrogant and stubborn nature,

"I...can't," she whimpered, sitting with her back to him, "You wouldn't understand,"

"Come on Ruby," he sighed, losing his hard edge and opting for a softer approach, "I've seen it all, this war...a lot of bad things happen, and generally when it's out of control,"

"Have you ever watched a person you love die?" she asked, still not looking,

"Of course, but I look on and keep my head high. Mourning and mopping about it won't help anyone," he replied,

"What if you were the reason they died?" that caused him to stop, looking down at her. The reason...did she mean...with her mother? He watched her as she simply slide down the rocky slope and walked to the house, "I'll...find my own way tomorrow Cliff," she added before walking in, "I need...time to think,"

"I'm here for ya Ruby," he pushed, "We all are, you can talk to us,"

"I know that...I just know I can't," she didn't further the conversation as she closed the door and locked it. Cliff knew he couldn't do any more, considering this hadn't gone the way he had planned, she just left it and drove off back to base, leaving his human friend crying and weeping on her bed,

_**The fool thinks he understands **_She didn't even stop to register the strange presence anymore, lying limp on her bed while phantom fingers played with her dishevelled hair, _**Soon, they all will**_.

* * *

As promised, Jane managed to call Bumblebee for a lift after he picked up Raf. She didn't tell why she wanted him to so it wasn't pushed. She came into the base with a 'buisness as usual' vibe and got stuck into it.

She decided to listen to a few radio stations, a little peeved by the number of illegal street races were popping around lately, thinking them all idiots for risking their own hides let alone the lives of others.

But once she heard Jack had no less participated in such a jount, even though just between him and another school mate, she was really laying it on him,

"I mean what in God's name were you thinking?!" she snapped, causing even Miko to flinch,

"Look Jane, relax nothing happened," Jack tried to defend himself but she wasn't going to have any of it,

"Now maybe, but what if some does the next time you use your ego instead of your brain?" she glared, "And to impress some popular Cheerleader lout? I though you had more dignity than that,"

"Hey, Sierra is not a lout," he snapped back,

"Oh really? Tell me, does she even know your name? or did you have to correct her?" Jane asked, not liking the way he stalled, "See!"

"Well, I don't see why you're getting into such a tiff about this, it was just one race to put that jerk Vince in his place!" Jack snapped again, really getting sick of her scolding,

"You don't play a bully's game!" she groaned, "It only give him more of an incentive to dig you a deeper grave! You want him to stop? Give him a reason not to bully you,"

"I was!" now they were glaring eachother down, but neither was backing away,

"No, you were just being immature, how Arcee let this happen I don't know," she didn't dare look to Arcee as her comment held no anger, "The only thing you'll get from acting like that is either a one way trip to the ER or a one way trip 6 feet under,"

"What the hell is with you! This isn't about the race is it?" now Jack struck something, Jane froze. Even their Autobot on lookers had paused to gauge her reaction, "Your concern is noted Jane but this is my life! Besides you never acted like this before," he could see just from the relaxing for her shoulders that she was giving up, not until she turned to face him again,

"Race again, on your own or with the bots, and I'll make sure your mother knows before the flag drops," with that, she merely walked away, clutching her head as another headache was coming on. She didn't bother staying at her station as she disconnected the laptop and moved somewhere else private to work wirelessly.

"Wow, I think you broke her," Miko pipped in, watching the older woman leave,

"What is with her lately?" Bulkhead asked, not liking the way she was acting,

"Thank Cliff," Arcee pipped, punching said bot's arm, "He tried to get her to talk about the...issue yesterday,"

"Cliffjumper, it was made adamant that such a subject would be left to Agent Dalton's discression," Optimus stepped in, not liking how Cliffjumper's actions brought such a tension within the base,

"Look, she was upset and I just wanted to help," he defended, looking to where she left,

"Be that as it may, her wellbeing, tying into to her actions on base, could have adverse effects as a whole," Optimus stated, but leaving it at that and letting the day pan out, hopefully time would ease the tension.

It had, to some degree. Jane had calmed somewhat but refused to apologise to Jack. In any case, she recieved a request from HQ regarding the number of illegal street races taking place, their traking had lead them to Jasper, Nevada and she was the only agent available on site. Accepting, she made numerous calls to the local police departments to aid in apprehending those involved.

Excusing herself from Optimus, she was making her way out to meet with the Sherif when she passed the kids, talking in hushed tones with Bumblebee and Bulkhead looking over. They froze a moment while she walked by, but she had too much to do to worry about that; the game console and TV were on, they were probably talking about games.

Arriving at the precinct, she discussed with the Sherif and attending officers what they were going to do; since these races were generally involving teens and young adolences, SWAT wasn't necessary, noting that they never carried guns in these races. Once night came, they began to set up. It wasn't long till the teens began to show up; custom muscle cars were littering the flood basin, one in particular caught her eye, a large red Aston Martin Vanquish v12 with custom designs.

She had stepped in to coast the gathering, but couldn't help to steal a moment to admire this artistic perfection of a car,

"Now _this_ is a car," she whispered to herself, the car reving at her compliment, no doubt the driver heard her. Before she could question him, the cars were gathering; after scopping out the tracks, they devised a plan to catch the drivers at the finish line while her team caught the on lookers.

Stepping back, she spied another yet familiar car; a custom yellow and black striped camero. The windows weren't tinted as dark as the Aston so she could almost see clearly inside,

"Jack?!" The banner dropped by a young girl signaled the roar of the engines as they sped off. Now Jane was pissed. She warned him! She signaled the police to move in and apprehend the on lookers while she borrowed a police motorbike to catch up with Jack and Bee, hopefuly to get them before the police did.

* * *

Jack and Bumblebee were having troubles of their own. Knockout was in the race and decided to try and shoot Bee off the road. Calling to base for back up, Bumblebee managed to lose Knockout with an oil sleek and quick hiding,

"I think we lost him Bee," Jack sighed, looking up at the bridge they were under as Knockout sped away, but the headlights of another car blinded him as it stopped in front of Bee. None other than Vince, the School bully, stepped out, "Oh you've got to be kidding?!" but then, a second engine revved as a motorcycle slid under the bridge,

"JACKSON DARBY!" came a shreik, now he kinda wished it was just Vince, Jane had slid off of the police bike and marched over to the pair but Vince didn't back away,

"Hey, get lost lady, he's mine!" Vince growled, hoping she would back off but instead she did something Jack never thought she would; Punch Vince in the face. Laying on the ground recovering with a bloodied nose,

"Lady! Who the hell do you think you are?!" he demanded, before getting another subsequence face beating,. Now Jack was scared, Jane never acted like this. And though he couldn't understand Bumblebee's sounds like Raf or Jane could, he could tell even the young bot was concerned,

"I'm the fucking FBI, you knat," she snapped, shoving her badge into his face, "SO unless you want to be locked away from the world for the rest of eternity. Get. Lost," he didn't need to be told twice as he stumbled to his car and drove off. Unfortunately that turned her anger to Jack, but seeing his large doe eyes, staring in fear, something clicked and her rage left her...what the hell did she do?

"Jack...I~" she screamed as a metal hand wrapped around her, lifting her off of the ground and before she knew it, she was in a car interior. Seat belts snapped around her securely and tightened as she struggled, "No! Let go!" she demanded,

"_And here I thought you were an admirer_," came a smooth voice, she didn't need to be told twice that she was, without a doubt, inside a transformer. A small prob suddenly appeared from the dashboard, sparking a moment before it zapped her, knocking her out. This night wasn't exactly going to plan.

* * *

**AN: here's another chapter. Sorry it took me so long but I've just been working through a few chapters and trying to get as many done as I can. The next chapter will so a bit more of Jane's instability as well as I'll be skipping a few episodes as a result. Stay tuned.**


	9. Chapter 9

**TFP chapter 9**

* * *

Jane sighed as she sat in the sterile, bland room. After the little confrontation with Knockout and her subsequent rescue from Optimus, there was a lot to make up for. Once Agent Fowler found out, his hand was forced. She was relieved of duty until such a time as her new Psychiatrist approved her mentally sound. She didn't agree with this but went through anyway. Besides, this wasn't the first time she had been in a psych's office.

She was glad she was able to apologize to Jack from her behavior previously, though he now saw her reasoning and accepted the apology regardless. When asked by Optimus why she was in such a fowl mood, she simply stated thus; it was like I had no control, yet I was willing to do it.

When the door to the office opened, she knew it was her turn. It was going to be a long hour.

* * *

The weeks went on as Jane continued to attend counciling, though she would twist her words and try to block certain subjects she wasn't comfortable dealing with or out right refused to speak of. He would ask about certain aspects that seemed incomplete in her accounting but she was adamant in stating she simply couldn't remember.

In that time, Arcee and Jack had an unfortunate encounter with Airachnid, a female spider Decepticon who was the one responsible for her old partner, Tailgate's, death. Jack had managed to out do the spider bot and reduce her ship to a pile of rubble. Optimus had contracted Cybonic Plague via infected Energon on an old Plague ship, Bumblebee delved into Megatron's still living and active mind to find the cure, returning possessed by Megatron himself. Now Megatron is back with who knows what in mind.

"Okay, too much stuff seems to happen when I'm not arround," she sighed, looking to Ratchet with a worried frown, "Why didn't you call? I could've helped,"

"Because your mental health was called into question, adding to it wouldn't have helped anyone," he stated simply,

"I'm not a basket case Ratchet, I know when to push such things aside when it's called for," she argued, watching as he sighed and looked to her,

"Like you did with Jack? How you yelled and snapped at Cliffjumper?" Ratchet could see she had no rebuttle to make, but didn't seem to like the fact he brought those up, "As much as you are concerned about us...we are concerned about you. But we don't understand humans as much as would be liked, so sending you to someone who could was the best option," as he got no reply from her, they left it at that. She solemnly returned to her station and worked while monitoring the kids as well. It wasn't long before the main console picked up a strange signature,

"I had hoped that my growing expertise on the subject were to purely remain academic," Ratchet stated, calculating and scanning this new anomoly, "But, though feint, this is clearly a dark energon signature," Jane perked up at the word, something about it was familiar about that, "And it's moving fast,"

"Megatron," Optimus hissed, though there was nothing defining that this signature was his, he was the only known Cybertronian on Earth who had such a vile substance,

"Where did her find more of the bad stuff?" Arcee asked, looking up at the console,

"And what's he going to do with it? Recruit a new army of the undead?" Bulkhead asked, Jane instantly pulled her attention to Miko, knowing exactly what she was thinking: Cybertronian Zombies.

"We cannot overlook the possibility," Optimus watched at the signature continued on its course, "Especially since Megatron seems to be heading to a familiar site," he lamented on the situation before turning to the others, "Barely out of stasis, it seems Megatron is making up for lost time; Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, prepare to roll out," all specified bots nodded and started towards the ground bridge,

"Me?" Ratchet asked, confused as to why he was asked for this mission and not Arcee as per the norm,

"If we are dealing with Dark Energon, I may well require your expertise," Optimus explained, turning back to Ratchet, "Arcee,"

"Bridge Operator, got it," she smiled, taking Ratchet's usual position at the controls,

"Go get them Bulkhead! Bring the Hurt!" Miko cheered, but didn't seem to move from her position on the couch. This was a concern to the boys who watched her like a hawk, Jane joined them,

"That's not like Miko to not want to go," Jack watched as she innocently drew in her sketchbook,

"She's definately up to something," Raf added, his eyes watching Miko as well, Jane shared the boys conern and stayed close by in case she did try something. Inputting the coordinates, Arcee pulled the lever to activate the bridge, the Mechs proceeded through. But once through, Miko made her break, easily out running the boys but Jane had made it to her before she entered the Ground Bridge,

"Miko it's not safe!" she snapped, holding the girl back with Jack and Raf coming up behind,

"I am NOT going to miss my first Zombie con throwdown!" Miko glared, pulling her arm free from Jane and continued into the Ground bridge,

"Miko!" Jack cried, following Jane with Raf close behind, all the while Arcee never noticed they were gone. Coming out of the bridge behind the bots, Jane would've called out to them but almost lost the kids as they climbed up on a large rocky outcrop with a view of the coming battle. What was a surprise was it wasn't Megatron present,

"That's not Megatron," Bulkhead stated, seeing the lanky frame of Commander Starscream, though he looked like he had seen better days with the amount of scraps, scratches, dents and damage he had sustained,

"Rise Skyquake! Rise!" he screamed, a light purple glow coming from the burial mound, the ground rumbling with his enforcing commands,

"Let's see some fight of the living dead already!" Miko called, though not loud enough for anyone to hear, Jack and Raf crouching down next to her,

"Miko! What were you thinking?!" Jack demanded, glaring at her,

"She wasn't," Raf added, sharing Jack's glare, all completely ignoring what was occuring in the battle,

"Hey! I totally missed out the last time, this could be my only chance to take some snaps," she smiled, pointing to her lastest subject, but Jane wasn't going to have any of it,

"You're going to be the living dead once I'm done with you," Jane hissed, pulling Miko into her feet, "Really? Is a photo worth your safety or your life?"

"It's just a photo, not..." Miko stopped as she tried to find her phone, "Oh no, I must've left it back at base...or," her demeanor changed as she turned to glare at Jane, "ARGH! YOU MADE ME LOSE MY PHONE!" she screamed, glaring at Jane,

"Maybe it was fate telling you you shouldn't BE HERE!" Jane snapped back, not realising they had just drawn attention to themselves, but the loud echo of an opening Ground Bridge pulled their gaze to the very aware Autobots. Suddenly, a second ground bridge appeared near Starcream,

"Two?" it only took a moment for Ratchet to realise what had occured, something disastrous, "YOU 4! INTO OUR GROUND BRIDGE NOW!_" _he demanded, Jane wasted no time to grab Miko and Raf, Jack following close behind but what they didn't see was once Starscream jumped through his bridge and they ran through theirs, both energy fields began to twist and flux,

"Ratchet! What is happening?!" Optimus demanded, unsure of what exactly he was seeing,

"The dueling ground bridge portals must be feeding back on each other!" Ratchet replied, monitoring the situation,

"Miko," Bulkhead muttered, "We gotta get them out of there!" He ran toward their opened Ground Bridge but before he could make his way in, the bridge released a venting pulse, forcing him back and off his pedes, witnessing this the others braced themselves as the portals collapsed and released a fierce burst so strong, everyone was thrown back.

* * *

Groaning, Jane slowly picked herself up. The Ground bridge exploded behind, sending them flying. Slowly sitting up, she found the kids lying around them. Quickly, she checked them for injuries and tried to revive them, thankfully they were waking up, groaning from their fall,

"Are you okay?" she asked, helping them sit up,

"Yeah," Raf groaned, fixing his glasses, "I think so," helping him up before moving to Miko and Jack, the dust cleared as the bots also began to recover,

"Guys! You're okay!" she smiled, steadying Jack on his feet,

"Wha...what just happened?" Bulkhead groaned, standing up with the other mechs following, sharing their own groans,

"I can't be certain," Ratchet began, cheking the others over for injuries, "But if 2 ground bridges sent to the same co-ordinates crossed streams, the feedback could've triggered a system overload," that did make sense, considering it had just happened,

"Could?" Miko questioned, "Hello! More like totally did!" but the bots seemed to just ignore her,

"Jane and the kids made it throught, right?" Bulkhead asked, calling for concern for the kids, leaving them quite confused,

"Bulkhead, we're right here!" Miko called, but again, the bots never noticed them, Optimus commed Arcee and hoped they had made it through, but it was obvious that they hadn't, it wasn't until Bulkhead almost stood on Miko that she phased through him,

"He went right through you," Jack gasped, "We're not alive!" now he was panicking, pulling Raf with him,

"I don't want to be a ghost!" Raf hugged Jane in responce,

"Wait, how can we still touch eachother?" he asked, giving Jane something to think on as they ran after the bots, they continued to discuss what happened and where the others could've ended it, concluding on a dislocation: that they were simply sent somewhere else,

"Another place...in the same place?" Raf questioned, this all didn't seem possible,

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, still trying to wrap his mind around this,

"I see," Jane mused, "The ground bridge must've sent us into a dimension between dimensions, like a Shadowzone; we can interact with one another and anything within this plane while anything outside is unable to interact with us," she explained,

"Nerd alert," Miko murmured, flinching when Jane threatened to smack her,

"Look," Optimus pointed to the large open hole before them, "Skyquake's tomb is empty," the moment those words left him, Jane knew something was wrong. No one saw said dead decepticon rise or even leave with Starscream so something was wrong. A chill ran up her spine and a gripping tightness pulled in her chest, and that never ended well.

The groaning of straining metal and heavy, shallow heaving signalled the arrival of a hulking mass of grey, optics a violent purple, making a bee line toward the retreating bots. Starscream's plan worked and he had successfully ressurrected a long since offline bot back from the grave. Being aware not to get underfoot, the small group of humans watched as the decepticon zombie approach the oblivious Autobot band.

"Zombie!" Miko cried, running with Jack and Raf in the hopes of alerting the bots to the incoming threat, but Jane stood frozen to her spot, as if she knew there was no danger and much like she had assumed, Skyquake rumbled as he raised his taloned servo up high, swiping dow to strike Bulkhead in the back, only to watch as his attack faze right through the green Wreaker, "Awesome! He can't touch them either!" Miko praised, but regretted speaking when Skyquake turned, spotting them across the way,

"If that thing can't touch the bots," Jack trembled, stepping back with the others,

"Just like we can't," Miko added, her own voice jumping from joyous to fearful as the lumbering husk appraoched them,

"Then we're trapped in the Shadowzone, with a Decepticon Zombie!" Raf cried, hiding behind Jack as the zombie drew closer,

"If we're not ghost now, we soon will be," Miko, losing her bravado and shared scared looks with the others, no one thought to look at Jane. Her body was quaking all over, her head was pounding like a drum, but her eyes...her eyes were glowing a bright purple. She felt cold, almost lifeless as she stood like a statue while the zombie approached. In their haste, the kids ran for their lives, Raf grabbing Jane by the arm and dragging her along. Her headache intensified as she body returned to normal, her eyes ceasing their glow as she senses returned. Running with the kids, she couldn't help but cringe at the zombie's echoing roar, and the booming laughter racking her frame.

They had made a close call with Raf losing his glasses, but they had only just managed to find a small outcrop of rocks to hide,

"Hey Jane, you alright?" Jack asked, noticing her strained grimace,

"Headache, I'll be fine," she groaned, trying to shake off the ache, "At least, we lost ol'dark and gruesome,"

"One good thing about Zombies, they're slow moving," Miko smiled, mimicing the lumbering hulk on their tail, all 4 jumped at the sound of Jack's phone, hope brightening as he grabbed for it, but as he tried to return the call – yelling through the reciever and straining to hear whoever was calling, but all he got was static,

"Nothing," he groaned, but while Miko sarcastically joked on the situation, Jane had an epiphany,

"But...it rang, meaning we can get a signal here," Jane smiled,

"Maybe they can't hear or see us because we're moving at hyper-speed or something," Raf determined, standing closer to Jane,

"Do you think...they can read us?" Jake asked, the others nodding as he began texting to Miko's number, since her phone was still at base, a fortunate turn of events but it took a turn for the worst when Skyquake caught up. Cornered, their only choice was to run beneath him and between his legs. Picking Raf up, Jane bolted behind Jack and Miko, screaming as Skyquake barely scrapped her back, ripping her blouse just as she ran past. Her head throbbed harder as the laughter cresendoed;

_**Ah...yes, that's it! Let your fear grow! Feed my arrival...but now, a taste of what I~ can offer you~**_

Suddenly, her headache plateaued and the glow in her eyes returned. Something was flowing through her, power? Whatever it was it burned in her veins, stinging and numbing as rolled all over her.

The world didn't seem to matter as she mechanically ran behind Jack and Miko, missing their exchange until they were met with a certain detatched limb. They had a plan but Jane was so high off of whatever was rushing through her, she barely caught Jack asking for help. A moment before Skyquake came around the bend, Jane's mind cleared as she helped the kids push the limb in place, hiding behind its servo as Skyquake approached, but the kids were trying to figure out how to pull the trigger, losing precious seconds as their zombie closed in, but Jane's rush peaked,

"STOP!" her scream surprised the kids, but it moreso surprised the Zombie; looking down at the tiny human, it tilted its head confused as curious, it could see something that Jane nor the children could, but it did give them the oppertune to strike. Pulling a finger, the rocket soared from the arm and struck the husk, the rush dropped from Jane like a hat, causing her to fall off balance. Jack and Raf ran to her side as Miko follow, praising their effort only to be stopped short when Skyquake roared in anger, his right arm severed and crumpled to the ground...before it took a life of its own.

"Run!" Jack cried, Miko grabbing Jane and pulling her along behind them, but she was stumbling and staggering, whatever happened to her drained almost everything she had and it did nothing for her recurring headache. Only realising they had come to a stop, Jane grasped rocky side to catch her breath and prevent herself from collapsing,

"This place is like a big merry-go-round!" Miko cursed, all of them jumping at the booming shout from an approaching Starscream,

"Skyquake! Your master summons you!" his voice echoed around the canyon, causing them to cover their ears at the sheer bellow,

"How did Starscream get into this dimension?" Jane groaned, pulling it together long enough to make it back to the kids,

"He didn't, he can't see us," Jack answered,

"Forget him, we gotta run!" Miko cried, the zombie limb making a beeline toward them,

"We can't just keep running forever, and Jane looks like she's about to drop," Raf panicked, turning to Jane again as she swayed,

"If I do, just run, don't worry about me," she mumbled,

"No, we're all getting out of here, the Autobots will come for us," Jack stated, helping her as they ran from the arm, skidding to a stop when a Ground Bridge opened,

"A ground brudge portal?" Raf asked, confused but thankful for the ray of hope,

"It must be our way out of here," Jane smiled, happy to see the swirling portal,

"The Autobots got our text!" Miko cheered, but as they bickered, the claw was getting closer so they had a choice; jump out and face Starscream, or stay and deal with the claw – neither were a good option but they had to choose or else fate was going to for them,

"Alright, Follow my lead," Jack nodded, the others following but waited until the claw was just close enough before, "NOW!" Jack and Miko helped Jane run through the bridge with Raf right beside them, jumping through the portal they managed to run past Starscream while Skyquake's claw took care of the seeker, taking him be surprise.

"Jack, Miko, Rafael, Jane!" turning away from the downed con, the Autobots appeared in the canyon, all very happy to see their human allies alive. Starscream's shrill screams caught their attention, as well as the zombie limb attacking him. Barely escaping the limb and bridging out of the canyon, the limb turned to the Autobots. Opening fire, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee ran out and scooped up their friends and ran back through the bridge, followed by the others, the limb smoking and dead as it was before.

* * *

Jane was truely thankful to get home that evening. Ratchet had cleared her and ensured she took her perscribed medication for her headache. Before Cliffjumper, whom she was back on good terms on, noticed Agent Fowler and Optimus talking, warily watching her as she left,

_**They fear you. They can tell you are...different and know not how to handle you**_ she had been hearing this voice more frequently now, instead of her dreams she could hear him in her waking hours, even taking control,

"No, they're just concerned," despite how strange it was to have a voice in your mind, Jane had this since...the incident, she had just left it to her conscience or a darker side of herself,

_**Hardly.**_ He scoffed, but how much she tried, she couldn't shake his voice – forced to listen to his deep rich tone, rolling off the tongue and surrounding her. Sitting on her bed, trying to rest she couldn't block him. _**Now, play for me**_ he purred, ghostly arms weaving around her as she pulled out her violin. Tuned and preped, she began to play. Almost second nature, her fingers and bow flew over notes like a seasoned pro, the choatic flowing melody echoing in the room, appeasing her secondary voice. Looking to a mirror, Jane registered her reflextion but she couldn't scream, she couldn't react as she played – her eyes glowed a bright purple, a shadow behind her, holding and leaning close to her as they listened and enjoyed her performance.

Before she could even try to stop and pull away, her hands and violin fell limp as her mind went blank, the memory pulled back into the deep recesses of her mind, it wasn't time but soon, soon it will be.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, I'm sorry for taking so long with this. I had actually finished the chapter a little while ago but TAFE bogged me down as well as other fics getting in the way. I'm uploading the chapters I have finished now so I hope you like them. You've all been so patient and you deserve it.


	10. Chapter 10

**TFP chapter 10**

* * *

Awaking the next morning, her strange dream long forgotten, Jane prepared for another day at the Autobot Base. A refreshing shower seemed to wash away all the stress and emotional baggage she seemed to be carrying these days, and a hearty breakfast made her all the peppier. Just before she ran out the door to meet Cliffjumper, the phone rang,

"Probably dad, I did forget to call last night," she smiled, walking to the photo with a jump in her step, "Hello,"

"_Hello, Jane_," she froze, she knew that voice, the scared man from the train incident!

"How did you get this number?" she gasped, waiting for a response,

"_Quite easily, my dear, the FBI isn't a thorough as they claim to be_," he chuckled,

"What do you want?" she demanded, pausing a moment when Cliffjumper honked his horn,

"_First, get rid of your friend_," he demanded,

"Fat chance, I could just as easily tell him your calling me," she rebutted, hoping to intimidate but with no luck,

"_And risk your family?_" he asked, catching her off guard,

"_Know that witless father of yours, they still live New York, correct?_" his smooth chuckle was a clear indicator he had the power and control of this conversation, leaving her in a bind. Sighing, she would to anything to keep her family safe,

"Hold on a minute," placing the phone down amoment, she dialed Cliffjumper's com number, lying on the couch in case he tried to scan inside,

"_Come on Ruby, what's the hold up?_" he asked, flinching as she heaved a loud cough to make it convincing,

"Sorry Cliph, I got a cold," she sniffed, coughing loudly again,

"I can'n go to bathe or I'll spread it to zhe kidths," honestly she didn't think she was convincing, but to Cliff it sounded real enough,

"_Yeesh, no prob Janey, I'll tell the others you're taking a sicky_" with that the loud roar of his engine picked up and sped down the highway, out of earshot. Clearing her throat, she picked up the phone,

"He's gone, now what do you want?" she demanded,

"_Just to talk, it's been years since I last saw you and, owing to Hannah's memory, I think we should reconnect_," his voice was just laced with deception and intrigue, harmless in his usage and even going as far as to include her mother in all of this,

"Do I really have a choice?" she asked,

"_Not unless you like seeing your family in danger_," she could just picture him smirking, but she had an idea, perhaps she could get on the inside of MECH! Find out what they are doing and perhaps turn them into the FBI, she could turn this to her favor,

"Fine, just...don't hurt my father and brothers," she pleaded, trying to make it convincing,

"_That a girl, I'll have some of my men pick you up and bring you to our current operations base_,_ they'll ensure you're not followed_," with that the line went dead. Sighing, she had to make preparations; no doubt they'll try to take her phone and any devices away so she had to act smart.

It wasn't long before his men came and like she had thought, they made her leave her phone behind. Blindfolded the entire trip, they were none the wiser about the particular bracelet she wore; one she had added a small distress beacon to, the one from her phone in fact, hidden in one of the jewels.

By the time the trip was over, a good 5 or 6 hours later, she found herself in some kind of bunker, one of the men slipped she was somewhere in Eastern Russia, abandoned and the perfect place for a merc group like them to come in and set up shop.

Lead through the facility, she heard a loud scream coming from one of the other room, exactly where they were going. Stepping in, she saw the same man again, observe something on a lower level. Looking down, she loudly gasped at the sight of Bulkhead's rival, Breakdown, strapped to an operating table with some whack job removing his right optic,

"What are you doing! Stop!" she demanded, trying to run down and stop them from doing any more to him, but was catch by her arm,

"Ah, Jane, welcome to MECH," Silas smiled, his sick smirk only aiding Jane's already flustered anger,

"What the hell are you doing?!" she demanded, breaking away from the man holding her, walking right up to Silas,

"Ah, that spitfire, just like your mother," he smirked, playing with a loose strand of hair before she slapped him away,

"Answer me!" she demanded, watching as he simply smirked,

"We are revolutionising warfare, finding out just what makes our robotic alien visitors tick," he remarked, looking back down as the proceeded to study Breakdown's outer armor and connections,

"And implementing it,"

"You do realise they're not just machines," stating rather than asking, sparing a pitted gaze down at Breakdown,

"They're alive just like us, why do this?"

"Because it is necessary," he snapped,

"They're not alive, their advance machinery and WE will take what we will from them and make it our own, a war is coming Jane, which side are you on?" looking away from Silas, she couldn't bare to look at him but stared down at Breakdown – by his gaze she could tell he recognised her, why he didn't say anything was another.

"Let's not dwell on this, come and we can talk else where," Silas smirked, placing a firm hand on Jane's shoulder and guided her out,

"So tell me, how have you been these long years?"

"Fine I guess," she replied, dodging the question as her mind dwelled on the poor soul they just left behind. Even if he were a Decepticon, she would never ask that on anyone,

"And your brothers'? I hear they are doing well for themselves," he was trying to make polite conversation but Jane could see he didn't care of much else,

"Look, what is the real reason you brought me here?" she demanded, stopping in the middle of the hallway, looking at his surprised gaze and watched as it turned into a more serious glare,

"Jane, I looked over your FBI file – a receptionist turned field agent, in a day, no – things don't work like that," she now felt a little bit boxed in as he stared her down,

"And your skills on the train during that little Dingus incident, they're training you and I could use someone like you here, in MECH,"

"Ha! I can hardly shoot straight, why would you want me?...unless" she looked to him, enlightened by her discovery,

"Does this have anything to do with Mom?" she saw him flinch before slamming his fist again the wall, right next to her head. Pinned to the wall by this...psychopath, Jane shivered as she stared up at him,

"Your mother...meant the world to me," he admitted, staring back down at her,

"And you," his fingers found her hair again, stroking and curling it around,

"Take after her so much, you would've been my daughter had _he_ not intervened ... maybe then, we could be a family," his fingers slipped free but his eyes turned to a different emotion,

"Perhaps now...it can be different," his slight inch forward was enough for Jane to back away from him, a blush growing across her cheeks,

"I...I...um, is there a bathroom I could use?" what was wrong with him? What sick thrill was he getting acting like that? He, a man well into his mid-life and no doubt around the same age group as her father, trying to make a move on her, an early 20-year-old woman! Not unheard of but the fact he sees her mother in her made it all the creepier. A snap of his fingers pulled her away from her flustered thoughts, one of his masked men walking up to them,

"Please show our _guest_ to the lavatory, then bring her to the conference room," he ordered, sparing her a glance before leaving. The soldier roughly took her arm and before to take her back towards Breakdown...this was her CHANCE! She could help Breakdown get free and cripple MECH in the process...but that would be helping a Decepticon, what would the others think?

"Keep moving," the soldier demanded, pushing her harshly. If there was one thing she was going to do now, it was teach this guy a lesson. Turning to face him, and faster than he registered, she landed a swift kick to his nether regions, dropping him to his feet then landed a sharp jab to his head, effectively putting him out. A quick search resulted in finding his gun, loaded as well, she ran back into the main area where she watched as the scientists tried to dissect Breakdown.

"I hate this part," she sighed, almost wishing the other side would take over but for now, she had to commit it. Aiming the gun, she shot the first scientist in the head, toppling him off of Breakdown, and before the others could make a move, she easily shot them too. Thankful that they were closer, making easier targets,

"What the slag are you doing?" Breakdown demanded, watching as she pulled the dead corpses away. Searching over the terminal, she found the release switch, slamming it hard and watched as Breakdown easily broke out of the lax cuffs, standing before her,

"Freeing you, now we gotta get out of here," she stated, rummaging for another gun before heading further down the tunnel before ol'Silas caught wise, but was stopped short when the now one-eyed Breakdown scooped her up and none too gently,

"We? I don't think so human," he hissed,

"Look, I want out as much as you if not more, and arguing about it isn't helping either of us," she snapped back,

"He could come back and strap you down again,"

"Fat chance," Breakdown snipped, though looking at her stare – practically screaming 'Wanna bet' – he knew he didn't convince her.

"Besides, why should I help you? You're probably one of them,"

"I didn't exactly have much choice in the matter," she added, racking her brain to find some way to convince him, time was of the essence and he was not helping it.

"Can't we argue about this outside?" unfortunately that would be a possibility as the alarms began to ring throughout the hideout, Silas and a squad of soldiers running out and he did not look happy when he saw Jane in Breakdown's grip,

"Put him down but don't hurt the girl!" he ordered, flinching as Jane shot back,

"Not a lot of room to manoeuvre! How about we move the fight outside!" She called over the gunfire, relatively protected by Breakdown's mass,

"Agreed," he nodded; holding her firmly as he ran down the tunnel, seeing the tracks on the ground it must've been some kind of unused train tunnel. Looking ahead to miss the poor saps caught underfoot, she braced as Breakdown burst through a sealed door, welcoming the open outside, only to flinch as more MECH agents began to open fire. Un able to do much while holding her, he dropped her to the ground – closely to her relief – and began to have a field day. Jane sort cover but just as she turned to return fire, a pain ripped through her shoulder then another through her side.

Before she realised the pain had come from being shot, she collapsed. The pain wasn't like anything she felt and yet, the pain was almost numbing compared to the rush. Like back in the Shadowzone, her pain was stirring something as it grew and grew. Surpassing the last surge and billowing over, before she knew it a bellowing roar echoed in her mind just as she was about to blackout.

_**NO ONE HARMS MY EMISSARY!**_

Breakdown had just crushed a car and shot down a copper before the surge hit. Some dark was brewing, dark like standing by Megatron when he was control Dark Energon. Suddenly it got brighter, the night almost casted out by a strange purple light. Looking back, he was shocked to see the human – Jane or something like that human called her – her entire being was warped and pulsed with a strange purple aura, even the human MECH soldiers stopped and stared. Slowly, her eyes opened and within were 2 black, lifeless pit; no light, no colour just black. The aura rippled like flames, intensifying as a voice echoed with her own, belting a mighty roar. For a moment, he saw her body flicker, taking on another form before reverting back. The aura then lashed out, ripping and slaughtering everyone around her. Breakdown was left unscathed but to witness such a bloodbath was like watching a berserker rip through Autobot units, or watching an ancient Gladiatorial fight between gods. She spared no one in her rage until all lay dead.

Her breath was laboured and a pool of blood grew around her. Her body slacked as the aura faded, collapsing before him. What…the…slag?

Before Breakdown could investigate or even consider taking her back to Megatron, he had only touched her limb body before the Autobots arrived. He had no doubt they had heard the fight. The echo of jets not far behind signalled the wake of Starscream and a squadron of seeker vehicons. Both sides surprised to see the other, before Bumblebee's fretted beeps signalled the bots to Jane's limp corpse,

"JANE!" Cliffjumper cried, flanked by Arcee as the Autobots gave them cover, Breakdown pulled away from the woman but still couldn't grasp what he saw. Falling back, he regrouped with Starscream as they too pulled a retreat.

"Ratchet! Jane's hurt!" Arcee called as the fighting died down, the medic running over with Bee, Bulkhead and Optimus close behind,

"She's been shot, she needs a hospital now!" he snapped, transforming and calling base for a bridge back, while Optimus served all the carnage they had missed,

"Just…what happened here?" Arcee asked, "Breakdown couldn't have done all of this, could he?" turning to Bulkhead, he looked just as confused,

"What I wanna know is why Jane was here," Cliffjumper was severely confused, "I left her at home this morning cause she had a cold,"

"We will need to wait until she is stable before we ask, for now we can only hope we were not too late," Optimus gathered his men, awaited Fowler's arrive before heading back to base.

Jane had remained in hospital, her injuries explained as a mugging gone wrong, before Fowler visited. She could tell by his look he came on business, which she dreaded.

"Agent Dalton, care to elaborate how you ended up in East Russia after claiming to be sick?" he asked, no at all pleased, sighing she shuffled a bit to get comfortable before explaining,

"He…called me, Silas," she could tell he was going to let her speak freely without interruption so she continued,

"He wanted to meet, I was going to refuse but…he threatened my family, saying if I didn't he'd go for them. I thought it would be a good idea so I could get a bit more info on their operations, like going undercover, but seeing Breakdown there…what they were doing to him, I couldn't let them,"

"So, not only did you _willingly_ go to the enemy but you also _helped_ a Decepticon?" he demanded, but pulled back when she snapped back,

"It's a good thing I did since they were going to cut him up and learn more about them!" she heaved, trying to calm herself, "They would then have the knowledge and technology they were seeking, I couldn't let that happen,"

"You still," he stopped seeing as she had good intentions but now, he was only feeling regret, "Look, I never wanted you in these sorts of situations," he explained, "You were supposed to be a relations ambassador between the FBI and the Autobots and now…you're stressed, bordering on dysfunctional – pardon me saying," honestly she took no offence since he was trying to be nice, "Maybe…this isn't the right kind of work for you,"

"I…honestly thought about that too sir," she added, "But what can I do? The Decepticons know about me, MECH knows were I live and my family, I can't just walk away from all of that and…I don't want to leave the others – they're my friends, kinda like my second family," she smiled, and Fowler could see her sincerity, sighing he stood and patted her clasped hands,

"How about this, I'll file for your resignation and you can stay on as a civilian relations worker…much like the kids, but I strongly ask you take some time to relax, do something you want and I'll handle the rest," he smiled, watching her sigh,

"You know, you're the only person I know who has ever been this nice to me," she smiled, watching him leave,

"Well, you're a good woman and you've proved that many times, we all need some slack sometimes," he smiled back,

"I…might go to see some family out of state, my Grandparents in Scotland are holding a reunion this week, I might go there once I tell the others," she added, Fowler nodded before saying his goodbyes and allowed the Nurse to come in and tend to Jane.

A day later she was released and returned to base where she explained the same thing to the bots, but when asked about the massacre, she couldn't answer,

"I don't remember any of that," she replied, sitting before the Autobots, "All I remember is getting shot and blacking out,"

"It was reckless of you to go to MECH Jane, but we are glad you are alright," Optimus added, his almost fatherly scowl relaxing into a relieved smile,

"You gotta admit though, this is pretty much business as usual," Jane smiled, making light on the situation, "How many times have you had to pull the kids out of the pyre because of recklessness," but she turned to Cliffjumper and found only betrayal,

"Why didn't you tell me, ruby?" he asked, stepping forward,

"We could've protected you here,"

"Cliff, he threatened my father and brothers, and I wasn't going to piss off a guy who is already itching for a reason to kill my dad," she replied, reaching out and touching his sad faceplates,

"If I could, I would have," sighing, he just touched her hand gently before looking at her,

"Guess, we're even now huh?" recalling their earlier spat months ago, she could only chuckle and nod, watching his own smile grace his plates,

"But what's this about Fowler saying you're not an agent anymore?" Bulkhead asked, followed by Bumblebee's nod,

"I've…resigned. I guess working for the FBI wasn't all it was cracked up to be," Ratchet scoffed at the comment,

"I could've told you that months ago, since you've been here you've been put through so much you almost had a nervous breakdown, so I for one am glad Agent Fowler finally saw reason," he retorted, looking to the human in question,

"But since I'm kinda a marked woman on both sides, he said I can stay here and help out like the kids," she smiled, "But not for this week, Agent Fowler suggested I get away for a while, my Grandparents in Scotland are holding a reunion and I've decided to go,"

"Are you sure that is wise?" Optimus asked,

"MECH could try something, if not the Cons," Arcee added, but Jane shook her head,

"Silas will probably only look for me, so if Ratchet doesn't find it a bother I could bridge there, as for the Cons, my gammy would probably say," standing from the edge of the platform, she cleared her voice

"_No force in heaven or earth would ever think of crossing the proud Highland Clan of Calder_," mimicking her grandmother's heavy Scottish accent, she spent the next hour explaining to the Autobots just want she meant – explaining her mother was Scottish and came from a Clan in Nairnshire, one of the oldest surviving clans in Scotland who were known for honour and pride.

With everything sorted, Cliffjumper sped her off to where she got packed and called long distance to tell her grandmother she was coming. Returning to base soon after with her bags, she smiled as the bots commented on her attire – a traditional tartan kilt with a matching beret, knee high socks and ballet shoes. Bulkhead, Miko and Bumblebee found it funny learning that even men wore the strange skirt but Ratchet snuck a flattering comment while no one was listening. Everyone waving her off as she was teleported through the bridge.

Cawdor Castle brought back such happy memories while Jane stayed there. Her Grandmother and Grandfather – Lord and Lady Calder – were happy to have their favoured granddaughter arrive early and stay for the last 2 days. The reunion was all a buzz as Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and extended family members flocked to the large castle, games and activities organized for entertainment when everyone caught up,

"Oh my little gem, where is your father or brothers?" Justine asked, walking to Jane as she flittered about like a butterfly,

"He said their plane was delayed, they should be here in an hour or so," she smiled, receiving yet another kiss from her granny before she flew off to another group. Smiling and eating the delicious food while catching up with friends and family before her phone rang; excusing herself to answer it, she found it strange that it was long distance but the moment she listened to the caller, a police officer, she dropped her plate. The resounding crash caught most of the party's attention, watching as she went pale,

"I'm sorry Miss Dalton, but your father and brother Gary were killed in an altercation at JFK airport, your other brother Sebastian was abducted on scene. I assure you we are looking into it and will keep in touch. Please, when you return to New York go and see the 45th precinct regarding this crime,"

Her body locked up, she wasn't hearing this. She couldn't be.

"Jane, what's the matter?" her grandmother placed a hand on her grandchild – she knew about her stability and knew when not to push, allowing her time to answer. Jane turned to her and she could see the fear, sorrow and lost in her eyes,

"Dad…Gary…gammy they…they're dead," a loud scream ripped through her as she couldn't contain herself anymore, dropping to her knees and weeping as her grandmother dropped to and held her, a hugh uproar echoed once everyone heard the news. What they didn't know was Jane had an idea who might've done it.

She missed the rest of the party, locked away in her room staring at her phone. Just waiting for him to call and gloat. Her grandmother and grandfather thought it wise to leave her be until she came out on her own.

Just then, as she predicted, he called. Not bothering to hold it up, she answered and placed the phone on speaker,

"_Jane, I warned you what would happen, though I admit it was satisfying to finally get one on_~"

"Where. Is. Seby?" she hissed, her voice monotone but holding repressed anger,

"_With me, here in Jasper, Nevada. So I suggest you get on the next flight back to America or else…well, who knows what might happen_," there was a small click before sounds of a scuffle, a whimper and sob filtered through before her eyes went wide,

"_Gingie? Gingie, what's going on?!"_ Sebastian sounded scared, beyond livid,

"_They killed dad! And Gary! God there was so much blood!_" She knew Sebastian was afraid of Blood so calling him traumatised right now would be hitting the nail on the head,

"_You have 3 days to get to this address, don't be late or…you'll have to bury 3 instead of 2_," the line disconnected, followed by a text message with an address. Wasting no time, she packed and bid her farewell. Before she walked out the door, her granny stopped her. One look at her and she knew,

"You find them, Janey," she growled, angered and knowing someone had crossed her family and Jane was a woman on a mission to correct it,

"You find that bleedin' bastard and make him pay for crossing a Calder,"

"I will gammy, I swear."

* * *

**AN:** Please R&R


	11. Chapter 11

**TFP chapter 11**

* * *

It had taken 2 days to get back to Nevada, but Jane made due. Using the address given to her, she arrived at the co-ordinates. She buzzed the Autobots about her early return but told them she'd catch up soon, once this mess was taken care of.

Entering the facility, she was greeted by Silas and his men, but no Sebastian in sight,

"Jane, right on time," he smirked, watching as she approached, oddly calm, "just like your mother…can't say about your father though, he was always a bit tard-!" he was cut short by a sharp snap, Jane punched him as hard as she could in the face, his men arming their guns and watched as he recovered. Now he saw the fire in her eyes,

"Don't you EVERY speak of my mother! Don't you DARE belittle my dad, he was more a man than you'll EVER BE!" she yelled, angry tears streaming down her cheek,

"WHERE'S SEBASTIAN! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?"

"My my, such a loud little insect," purred a voice, turning around Jane gasped at seeing the spider bot Airachnid – Jack and Arcee spoke of the sadistic femme, Cliffjumper explained to her how she killed Arcee's first partner Tailgate,

"What is she doing here?" Jane demanded, looking back to Silas, testing his jaw for any damage,

"Your _partner_ for the evening will be joining us soon," confused by his answer, the familiar rev from a motorcycle was enough,

"No," Jane would've ran out if not for one of Silas' men. Walking out to meet Jack and Arcee, there was fire exchanged before the pair streamed into the warehouse,

"Jane? What are you?" Jack questioned but she had fear written all over her face,

"Get out! It's a trap! Airachnid-" she was cut off when said femme dropped from the ceiling and dropped Arcee, followed by MECH. Having enough of losing people, Jane got loose from her detainer and stood infront of Jack, "Leave him out of this!" she demanded, but Airachnid just scoffed,

"I'm still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me Jack," she smirked, ignoring Jane and leered down at the young boy,

"You people care deeply about Family, you friend here is a clear indication of that, considering _AH!_" she hissed, holding her face plates and feeling a scratch under her fingers, looking down she saw Jane holding a combat knife dripping with her energon,

"You have no right to speak of them, Decepticon Bitch," Jane hissed, threatening any of the soldiers approaching to take the knife off. Airachnid hissed as she glared at Jane, but made no move,

"Be thankful you're not my little plaything tonight, but you both should know I'm feeling sporting," she smirked, directing them to a timer on the computer console, "Since the most painful revenge I can inflict on you Jack is ripping your family apart, I'm giving you until the stroke of twelve to save your mother, I've stashed her close by – hanging around – I suggest you get moving, save her before then and I'll let you both go unharmed," Airachnid enjoyed the look on Jack's face while Silas approached Jane,

"Your dear _faggit_ of a brother is here too, with Mrs Darby, you'll all leave here unharmed it you save them, if not then you're mine, understood?" Jane didn't like the idea of this, especially if Arcee was out of commission like this, but seeing only 6 minutes on the count down, she grabbed Jack and ran.

"Mom! MOM!" he cried, but Jane tried to think strategy, something Airachnid said wasn't sitting right, and with that bitch hounding them they had to be quick. Looking up she could only see the tall foundry towers inhabiting the place, until a twinkle caught her eye. Straining her eyes in the darkness, she spied her brother, his designer glasses catching the full moon, and next to him must've been Mrs. Darby,

"Jack! Up there!" she called, pointing to the pair, both running toward the tower,

"We found them!" he smiled but Jane didn't share his sentiment as Airachnid were on their tail,

"No Jack, we had to save them, not find them," she added, reaching the top,

"But…we only have 3 minute left! What can we do?!" he panicked, Airachnid was watching overhead and he could see the thrill in her optics. Jane looked about and found a long rope on the ground,

"Jack, take that end hold onto it, I'll take the other," following her lead, he watched as she tied the rope around them both, then handed her knife to Jack instructing him to cut as she quickly wove the rope around the safely rails,

"JACK!" June Darby had just awoken, scared of the height she was at and the monster robot watching them, "Who are these people?! How did I get here?! And your robots are real?!" her screaming awoke Sebastian from his sleep, only to hear Jane call out,

"Seby! Close your eyes now! Don't you dare look down!" she yelled, straining as Jack snapped the last thread. A high-pitched scream came from said boy as he obeyed his sister,

"Gingie! What's happening?!" his eyes were snapped tightly as he felt himself rising, another pair of hands grabbed him and whoever he was tied to until they were lying side by side,

"Hold on, we've got you," Jane took the knife back from Jack and began cutting at the webbing, or trying to, when she was pinned down, as well as Jack,

"No! We bet your time limit! We saved them!" Jane snapped, trying to free her hand, Jack doing the same,

"Honestly, I just wished Silas kept you out of this," Airachnid hissed but looked endearingly at the tied bundle, "Now I can have twice the fun, but since they're you're families, I'll let you choose their deaths – agonizing or excruciating?" she was practically drooling at the thought of her _fun_, the venomous fluids melting metal as she looked down on the 2, she actually found it amusing how Jack was using a melted pipe to pry himself free while Jane was struggling for all she's worth,

"Don't touch him!" she screamed, struggling harder,

"Well, since you 2 won't decide and, you seem rather amorous little girl, little boys first," leering down at Sebastian as he struggle, like a bug in her web,

"NO!" she screamed, reaching out for him, grabbing her knife, she gave a loud grunt followed by a loud screech – her knife imbedded itself into Airachnid's optic, cracking the glass and piercing the utility beneath, her drool also landed on the conjoined pair, melting through their bonds. Jack just managed to free himself and pry his mother and Jane's brother out of the webbing before the acid touch them,

"You little WRETCH!" Airachnid roared, her talons trained on Jane but the loud revving of engines signaled Arcee's return, kicking the spider-femme off the tower. Sebastian, still quite flustered, ran to Jane and helped her get loose while they, Jack and his mother, scaled down the tower and out of the bot's battle.

Arcee found it quite fitting for Airachnid's 'prey' to finally stick on to her, the blade still lodged in her optics,

"Nice look Airachnid," she smirked, causing the femme to growl, remove the blade and causing more damage, lunging at Arcee as they fought; each taking blows as well as dealing them. The 4 humans below watched in awe and anticipation over the outcome of the match when Jack accidently knocked some controls, activating the refinery and spilling concrete into a container below. Arcee heard the noise and saw when Jack had done. The pair nodded and, while Jane stayed with her brother and Mrs. Darby, Arcee managed to throw Airachnid into a small troff below where, as Jack activated the refinery again, Arcee redirected the flow on concrete to bath Airachnid within – a temporary solution as her sealed body began to crack.

Though to be a victory was short lived as Silas and his men surrounded them, weapons armed, he was not happy with the predicament as he lost both prizes, but before he could take them all back into custody, the whirling of helicopters echoed overhead – Agent Fowler and a whole squad had come to their assistance,

"How did they?!" Silas snapped, before realizing something; grabbing his side he found his radio was gone, looking back to the group, Jack smirked as he produced said Radio, he had snatched it while the terrorist leader was preoccupied. Soldiers were being dropped to apprehend any MECH members they could find but Silas had ordered a full retreat, leaving Airachnid to their mercy.

Her shriek alerted the soldiers, the copters opening fire on the Decepticon femme, not giving up until her optics – well optic – shot a green beam at the closest copter and scanned it's design. Angered further by the predicament, she transformed into another helicopter and fled. Everyone was safe.

Jane had stepped aside to make a phone call while Fowler coordinated a sweep of the facility, but MECH was gone without a trace. Despite being a victim, Mrs. Darby looked Sebastian over for any injuries, concerned as he stared at his sister,

"You two are close, aren't you?" she asked, smiling when she found nothing wrong,

"Since we were little," Sebastian tried to smile, but the events leading to this moment were still fresh, especially watching his father and brother die, "Gary, our older brother, was always watching over us but Gingie…Jane, many people thought we were twins. We did everything together," his mind wondered to the many happy memories they all had, "But she changed when Mom died,"

"Died?" Jack asked, looking to Jane. He had always thought she had ran off, leaving her family but…all of it made more sense now,

"Yeah, Jane was with mom when she died, we think she actually witnessed it and…" Sebastian paused as the fresh memory came back,

"She became very protective of us, especially me when we were going through school – I was bullied for being who I am, and she would always stand up for me, even gave me the confidence to find a boyfriend," he smiled, but lost it as he turned back to Jane,

"She can't handle death well, and with dad and Gary gone…I don't know what will happen,"

"What happened before, with her mother?" June asked, feeling sorry for the younger woman,

"A really deep depression, she was probably one reason off from committing suicide," Sebastian shivered at the thought,

"She got really paranoid then, saying someone was talking to her when she was alone, playing her violin for them and…she had the strangest drawings too, but I think she got rid of them when she came out of it. It took a while but we were all glad she pulled through,"

"Who is she calling anyway?" Jack asked, looking back to her,

"Probably Gammy, back in Scotland, no doubt she knew what happened too," Sebastian added, watching as Jane finished the call and walked back. Immediately she sat next to Sebastian and hugged him, he did what any big brother would do and held her close, both siblings trying to comfort the other.

Agent Fowler returned to try and cover up what had happened, but failed miserably,

"Agent Fowler, Mom's nod gonna by that…neither is Sebastian," Jack replied,

"He's got that right," June and Sebastian replied, Sebastian held Jane closer as everything was explained. She remained silent, trying to process everything. Just sitting here with her brother, being away from him for so long, he never even got the chance to say good-bye to her father and brother.

Agent Fowler organized both of them tickets back to New York. Sending a report to the NYPD branch on the culprits behind the murders of Lance and Gary Dalton. Taking over the investigation, the NYPD released their bodies back to the family.

Another 2 weeks was spent setting up the funerals…so close to her own. Watching as the coffins were lowered into the communal grave. 2 more plaques added to the gravestone, Jane looked behind her, seeing the bots in vehicle form. They had come for her; even Ratchet was counted among them. They just sat idly and watched over the procession. It warmed her heart to have so many with her and around her, Sebastian included, but the nagging feeling of responsibility was rearing its ugly head. She was the reason they were dead…just like her mother.

_**You see now…Death surrounds you**_ ghostly arms wrapped around her in a cold embrace. One only she could feel…only she could see and hear.

_**Death is our art. Our very being. She showed you, just as they have. You can only find solace, find peace…only through me**_

"Will it ever stop?" she asked aloud, asking the spectre. Sebastian thought she was talking to him,

"The pain?"

"It'll fade Gingie. We gotta be strong for each other," he replied, hugging her close as they began to fill the graves. The voice scoffed the boy's attempt to calm her,

_**The pain will make you strong. Hone your senses, make you stronger**_ she tried to ignore the voice, but her attempts only entertained it before it too disappeared. Leaving her alone for the moment.

Time passed. With it came healing.

Sebastian moved in with Jane and found work in Jasper in a little fashion boutique much to his delight. He helped Jane along since the funeral and, much to her relief, MECH never struck. They spent almost everyday together, unless Sebastian was at work and she was at the base.

She too tried to find work in Jasper but she just couldn't seem to focus on anything. Sebastian had awoken many a night hearing her playing her violin, seeing the reoccurring signs of her depression. He didn't want to put her back on anti-depressants like she had to before so, with June Darby's help, they tried to keep her spirits high through activities, trips and regular visits.

Jane appreciated what the 2 were doing for her, but it never stopped the nightly visits from her spectre. He was becoming more frequent now, more so than before. He would never answer directly, using riddles or telling her not to worry and to simply wait. For what?

She was glad to be around the bots though. Even without her connections with the bureau she was productive around the base. Ratchet was glad to have his little helper back, and even made the effort to brighten her spirits. Agreeing with nurse Darby to make her life as stress-free as possible, he had to practically lean on Optimus to enforce a 'NO STRESS' workspace for her…that didn't stop Cliffjumper from entertaining his partner.

Many a time he would take her out for a drive, much to her delight. His zealousness to get her to smile was better than any medication. Despite the near beatings he received from Ratchet regarding his methods, Nurse Darby was please to report from her regular psych sessions and daily 'girl days out', she was getting better.

This day though, was not a favourite of hers. Jane sat a good few meters from the entrance of a large cave. Tapping her foot impatiently while Arcee and Bulkhead worked. Cliffjumper was patrolling with Bumblebee so couldn't come with her.

She was talked into chaperone Miko and Jack to a Slash Monkey concert, by the request of Nurse Darby. Sure she didn't mind, though the music in her opinion was atrocious; she hadn't been to a concert in forever. However, standing by this cave didn't make her feel any better. Looking over, she smiled as Miko animatedly carried-on about the concert and how the bots were taking forever. Jack on the other hand was simply enjoying the weather.

A loud beeping from the energon tracker signalled the bots' return. Looking up, Bulkhead and Arcee had just exited the cave.

"By all appearences, the mine has been stripped," Arcee argued, staring at the scanner with Bulkhead,

"But I'm getting a signel," Bulkhead rebutted, checking the scanner again only to get the same result,

"It's feint, but it's definitely energon."

"Doesn't make sense," Arcee sighed, racking her processor for an answer,

"This operation has been abandoned for 4, maybe 5 years. And Decepticons never leave energon behind," looking to Bulkhead, hoping he might've had an answer,

"Uh, guys," Jack interrupted, catching everyone's attention. Pointing into the cave, they all just saw Miko run in exclaiming before she disappeared from sight,

"Seriously? She runs into a possibly unstable mine?" Jane asked, as if unable to conceive how anyone could do that,

"Unbelievable," Arcee added, looking to Jane,

"Really?" Jack asked,

"Have you met her?" shooting a glare at the young teen, Bulkhead was already running in after her.

"It would be kinda interesting to see," he added, looking up to Arcee with an indifferent, yet asking look,

"Has everyone seemed to have forgotten this is a cave?" Jane asked, again unable to comprehend the lack of caution,

"Why are you so twitchy?" Jack asked, watching her for a response,

"I…just don't like caves okay," she replied, as juvenile as she sounded,

"She has a point," Arcee stepped in, looking down on the pair,

"A stripped mine can be unstable Jack," looking down, he simply raised his hands in defence,

"I promise to step lightly," Jane could not believe this. After hearing 'stripped mine' and 'unstable', he still wanted to go inside? Did logic and reason step out of here while she wasn't looking? What was worse was Arcee agreeing to go in with him,

"Jane, you coming?" she asked. Jane stared down the mouth of the cave, a twinge running up her spine,

"I'll…wait here…in the nice, open sunlight," she replied, refusing to face the pair after her staggering comment. They never said anything back, turning she already saw them gone,

"Jeez, why did I come?" she asked herself, staring down the cave,

"I shouldn't be here," whimpering, she took a seat on the nearby rocks and waited for the team to come back. But the sound of rumbling jets caught her attention. Looking to the sky, she gasped at the sight of 2 familiar forms. Quickly hiding behind the rocks she flinched as Megatron and Starscream landed.

"Lord Megatron," Starscream flinched,

"Far be it from me to question your intentions but I do not understand why we have returned here after all this time…alone," Jane could hear the fear in his voice, not unnatural of Starscream when Megatron was around but something still seemed off. Trailing after the Decepticon Warlord, trying to explain how the mine had been stripped long ago, she froze when Megatron stopped at the entrance. Something…connected them. She could feel it, something was growing from their proximity. But when he tried to find the source, being her, she ducked behind the rocks in the hopes he didn't see her.

"Lord Megatron?" Starscream pulled him from his revere, watching as he continued on,

"Indulge me Starscream, won't you?" was all Megatron said as he walked further into the mines, Starscream close behind. Jane took a moment before coming out from behind the rubble,

"Oh no, the others!" she thought immediately, but just as she was about to step into the cave, there was a flash; her past catching up on her as she relived the horror. She didn't want to enter. She REALLY didn't want to enter but…she had to. For the others. Sucking it up, and hoping she wouldn't pass out, she ran in after them, praying they would all get out of this alive.

She had been running for what seemed like forever, staying close to any lit chambers. They had to have been here. She tried multiple passages only to feel like she was going in circles.

"Jack! Miko! Arcee! Bulkhead!" She cried out, only to be answered by her echo. But as she came to the next chamber, she could hear the feint sounds of arguing, and pleading. Investigating the sounds led her to Megatron and Starscream again. Only this time Megatron had a gun raised to Starscream's helm. I was almost pathetic watching Starscream beg and whine like that but she had to be careful. Being this close to Megatron before almost gave her away, for whatever reason it had happened in the first place. But just across the way, on the other side of the chamber, she saw Jack and Arcee walking into the open,

"JACK! ARCEE! LOOK OUT!" she screamed on impulse, alerting the 2 cons to her location before they turned to the others. Megatron was more than annoyed seeing Jack and Arcee here, opening fire on them. But once out of sight, he turned to Jane. Her eyes wide as she stared down the barrel of his gun when…he stopped. Whatever happened before was happening again. Why was this happening?

"JANE!" Arcee's cry pulled Jane out of her stupor, turning back to the problem at hand. Megatron, wanting to investigate this a little further, opened fire on Arcee again and keeping himself between the Autobot and the other human. What he didn't count on was Starscream trying to flee. While his attention was drawn to the Seeker, Jane made a run for the others. Arcee covered her, but her actions set in motion one of the worse days of their lives. Deflecting Megatron's blasts loosened the rocks above them and, before any could flee, caused a massive cave-in. Megatron was crushed under the rocks he had shot down while the rest of the cavern collapsed. Jane never made it to the others as they all fell.

* * *

**AN:** Man I love cliffhangers! And this one will keep ya hanging for a while. If you have any suggestions or ideas you would like me to add in the next chapter please tell me, I'm having a little writers block regarding this fic.


	12. Chapter 12

**TFP chapter 12**

* * *

She wasn't sure how long it was before she awoke. Coughing and gasping while her hand tried to wave the dust from the air. But the moment she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't.

Surrounded, by rocks and boulders. Trapped in the darkness, like before. She couldn't stop herself from screaming as fear gripped her heart. Her heart pounding and almost falling limp, she scuttled back to the wall in the hopes it would engulf her. Tears streaming down her eyes and her breath quickened as the weight of her situation raked her. She was trapped, in a cave-in, surrounded by darkness.

It was all coming back now; the small shouts of a child searching for her mother. Blood staining the ground around her; a body crushed beneath unmerciful rocks as she held her tiny child. Another scream ripped from her echoed in the darkness.

* * *

Jack jumped at the sudden scream echoing through the cracks in the rocks. It didn't sound like Miko or Arcee, but it was definitely a female voice.

"Jane!" he gasped, moving toward the sound of the scream. But he was trapped in this large chamber, with no way of getting out. He had to find someway of getting out, or find Arcee and Bulkhead. They'd be able to get them all out. And Miko, he hoped she stuck close to Bulkhead in the cave-in.

Another scream echoed through again. Jane must've really hated caves but he wondered why. She never made any mention of fears or caves if he recalled correctly. Something she probably didn't want to talk about. Whatever the case may be, he had to get to her and the others. Roaming through the cavern, a tumbling rock on metal caught his attention. One of the Decepticon drillers was right there, and looked intact.

Wasting no time, he ran up to the machine and tried to get it working. It still had juice and seemed easy enough to manage despite the height issue. Once the purr of the engine echoed, he guided the machine to the opposite wall. Watching as the drill's spine easily sliced through the rock. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before he found the others.

* * *

Miko was growing lax. The rapidly depleting oxygen in their small cove of the cave-in was beginning to take effect. Bulkhead, watching on with no way of helping her, strained to keep the rocks above from dropping on their heads,

"Come on Miko! You need to keep banging my foot!" he demanded, trying to motivate the girl into action. But she was getting weaker by the minute. Suddenly, a loud scream echoed through the walls,

"Wha…what was that?" she asked, jumping at the sudden cry,

"Sounded like Jane, she must be in trouble!" Bulkhead cursed,

"Do…do you think she's hurt?" Miko asked, struggling to lift her rock and slam it down on Bulkhead's foot,

"What…what if?" Bulkhead didn't give her a chance to finish,

"Don't think that Miko!" he snapped,

"We're all getting out of here!" though the situation was dire, he had to keep Miko's spirits up. If not, they're situation could go bad to worst. He watched and coached her to slam the rock down harder, wincing as another scream echoed through the walls. He just hoped Jane was all right too.

* * *

Her body shook as she tried to push the situation out of her mind. Pulling in her legs, wrapping her arms around them and hiding her face in her knees, she begged and pleaded someone would find her.

Her racked sobs had grown soft from the lack of oxygen, having wasted most from hyperventilating. Her fear still ran wild; her heart pounding in her ears and her quivers getting worse. Tears kept flowing without a sign of stopping, her hitches and sobs echoing around her.

"_Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?!" _A small child screamed, pulling her one of her own. Looking up, she watched as a ghost from the past ran out infront of her; dirty summer dress, torn and tattered, her hair a mess and covered with dust and rocks. Blood stains dotted her dress as she stopped, looking for something. To Jane's horror, the little child found her goal,

"NO NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screamed, refusing to watch as the small child ran to the crushed woman, her dark brown hair tattered with blood but the most disturbing visage was the dull teal eyes and haunting smile on the woman's face,

"DON'T SHOW ME!" but try as she might, she couldn't ignore the poor child's screams. The feint whisper of the woman's dying voice falling deaf as the ghosts returned from whence they came.

"Please…I…don't want to be here," she sobbed, rocking herself in the hopes of calming down but she knew it wouldn't work. She hated being in caves; too many memories of…she refused to go there.

"Someone…anyone…help me,"

_**None can help you**_ the voice boomed, as if surrounding her,

_**They are more worried about the others than you. Have you heard their cries for help? They must come first, while you sit here and suffer**_. She didn't want to listen, she tried to block the voice out but her fear would rise at the thought of being alone here,

_**Yes. Here, I am always with you. Your only companion. You are mine**_. Suddenly she felt the voice retreat, looking up as if to grab something,

"Please! Don't leave me!" she begged, hugging air.

Suddenly, the rock face next to her exploded in a flurry of hailing rocks. Ducking for cover, she slowly looked up to see who had just stormed through. Her breath hitched and her fear spiked at the sight of Megatron. He flicked stones and dust from his shoulders before he looked down on her.

"Ah, the little human from before," he mused, smirking as he saw her wide eyes staring back. She shakily got back to her feet, about to run when all she found was the rest of the cavern; the only exit was behind Megatron – a small hole in the opposite wall.

"Trapped with nowhere to go," he snickered, approaching her and enjoying her futile attempt to keep distance. His smirk grew once her back hit the wall,

"I guess your little comrade should've ended me when he had the chance. Because of him, your life will end here," raising his blaster, aiming for her shaking frame, he stopped. The strange connection was forming again. Why? Why was this human affecting him so? But as far as he could tell, it was affecting her too.

"If…if you're going to kill me, then do it already!" she snapped, practically opening herself to the idea,

"I'd rather be dead then have to suffer any more of this hell!" this caught him by surprise. Sure, he had many an Autobot prisoner beg for death and he more than willingly obliged, but something seemed off. Only briefly did he see her eyes flicker, a rich violet replaced her otherwise teal eyes but only for a moment. Maybe she was hiding something, something that could benefit him. He powered down his weapon and enclosed on her,

"No. That would be too…merciful," he smirked, seeing the hope fade from her,

"You would be more useful to me…as my prisoner," seeing that serrated smile gave Jane a new burst of adrenaline, she'd rather run blindly through these caves then be his prisoner. Running as fast as she could, just missing the tyrant's servos, she managed to get to the hole. Just on the other side she spotted Arcee walking by,

"Arcee!" she cried, catching the femme's attention. Spurred on she ran through the hole in the hopes of reaching the safety promised by Arcee's presence. She too ran to the frightened human, a small glimmer of hope in this dark cave. But just before they could reach each other, Megatron's large servo burst through the rock wall and attempted to snatched Jane.

"NO!" Arcee screamed,

"Jane DUCK!" as commanded, Jane dropped to the ground as Arcee open-fired on Megatron. Roaring in pain, he retracked his arm, allowing Arcee to reclaim Jane. A short moment was shared by the 2 before he moved on.

"Jane, are you okay!" Arcee panicked, looking down at the young woman. Jane was hyperventilating, in shock and was loosing consciousness. Before she could act, Arcee heard Miko's cries. Torn by what to do, she scooped Jane into her arms and ran to aid Miko and the others.

* * *

Returning to base wasn't met with good tidings. Arcee and Bulkhead gave their report of what happened within the mines and as Arcee placed the now unconscious Jane on a medical berth.

"Why was she even there?!" Sebastian snapped, fuming by the facts his sister was put in such danger, never once leaving her side as she whimpered and shivered in her sleep.

"She was chaperoning Jack and Miko to a Slash Monkey's concert in the same area as the mine. Last I saw her she was outside the cave before the cave in," Bulkhead explained,

"I saw her when Jack and I bumped into Megatron. She had come through the same way they had," Arcee added, though she wasn't happy with herself,

"Gingie shouldn't have gone into the cave at all, not after what happened the last time she did," Sebastian panicked, fearing for his sister and her condition but the others had never heard that statement before,

"She never mentioned being in a cave before," Raf stated, causing Sebastian to look at him like he had made the understatement of the year,

"Because the last time she was…she watched mom die," that shocked them the most,

"She hates talking about it, but when she turned 5 mom was taking her on this cavern tour, some kind of precious stone geology thing they both liked and it being a birthday present for both of them," he explained, though wasn't too sure on a few details,

"No one knows how but the cave collapsed. Mom and Jane got separated from the group. It took crews almost a week just to get to the tour group and another to find Jane and mom…by then mom was dead and Jane was really sick,"

"No doubt from dehydration and lack of food," Ratchet surmised, completing his scans of the small woman but Sebastian shook his head,

"No, I remember the doctors saying she was poisoned by something, something that was in the cave," he racked his memories for the details only to come up short,

"I can't remember what they said it was but she was almost dead by the time they got her to hospital, had to filter her blood three times before she showed signs of recovery. Even after all of that she was delirious…that's when her first depression started,"

"And after reliving such trauma in the cave, who knows what her mental state will be," Optimus' voice held the determination the others knew was coming,

"All we can do now, is keep her in the care of professionals,"

"No, the best thing we can do for her is surround her," Sebastian rebutted,

"The last time she was left in hospital, alone, in this state she threw an orderly through a wall. She needs constant company in order to stay sane," looking down at his sister, watching as her shaking faded but her twitching remained,

"The doctors said it this were to happen again, she might not come back."

* * *

True were Sebastian's words; once Jane awoke after the incident with Starscream and the Imobilizer, Bulkhead and the Ancient's data storage cylinder, Ratchet and the synthetic energon, she had been rendered mute. Refusing to speak with anyone and remained in a small corner of the base. The only thing she had wanted was her violin, which she strangely played constantly.

Cliffjumper had taken it upon himself to watch over her, standing as she guard and trying more than once to get her to speak. Sebastian would be called over when she had played to the point of her fingers bleeding. Time and time again he would join Cliffjumper's efforts to get her to speak and interact with them, only managing to get her away from her 'safety zone' and violin to interact with the kids.

On this particular day, Raf had convinced Jane to come with him and Bumblebee to race cars. Cliffjumper didn't seem to mind and it allowed for him to help the team as they set out to prevent another military theft.

"It'll be great Jane," Raf smiled, sitting next her in the back seat. Jane just seemed more interested in staring out Bumblebee's window than to speak or even interact with him. Saddened by her lack of response, Raf wrapped his arms around her waist,

"Please Jane, please say something. We're hear for you," Raf wept, his tears close to falling. Bumblebee chirped and whirred, mimicking Raf's plea as he watched the pair. Slowly, Jane turned to look at Raf; the daze in her eyes slowly faded a moment but remained. Seeking the child's warmth, Jane returned his hug pulling tighter as they just sat there.

"_Bumblebee, the team may require backup_," Ratchet's voice filtered through Bumblebee's interior,

"_They're 3 kliks north from your current position just off the highway. If you drop Raf and Jane off at the exit ramp, I'll bridge them back to base from there_," Bumblebee's endearing whine showed how disappointed he was,

"It's okay Bee. We'll go racing another time," Raf smiled, turning to Jane only to find she was still silent, though her expression seemed to echo Bumblebee's, that was a good sign she was coming around. But their little victory was short lived when the roaring sound of a jet engine soared overhead.

Raf gasped at the sight of Megatron catching up to them. Bumblebee swerved and picked up speed to avoid the Decepticon's attack, but it was all in vain. Releasing a third shot, Megatron smirked as it hit it's target; watching through the back window, everything seemed to slow as Jane – while in her daze – turned to see the shot sailing toward them. The haze in her eyes cleared completely. Shining and vibrant, all she could think of was to protect Raf.

"Raf LOOK OUT!" Instantly, she pulled the smaller boy from his seat, placed him on her lap and acted as a shield around him.

The shot hit, Megatron flew off as Bumblebee skidded to a stop. He whirled, looking back to his passengers, seeing if they were alright. An arm fell onto his seats with a deathly thud.

The battle with the drones was intense but the Autobots were gaining the upper hand just as Megatron entered the fray. His eyes gleaming red as he glared at the bots, all holding his ground,

"Optimus," Megatron glared,

"Megatron do you not see the folly in trying to force a prophesy to fruition?" Optimus demanded, his blaster and sword raised, ready for an attack,

"Why leave matters to fate, if one can forge ones own destiny," Megatron sneered, but something behind them caught his optics,

"Ah, speaking of fate," curious, the Autobots looked back to see Bumblebee walking up to them, his optics drooped as if in pain with Raf leaning down from his shoulder,

"It's Jane," the young boy was in tears, looking down at the form in Bumblebee's servos.

Looking down, Optimus' optics snapped wide at the sight; Jane lay, half dead, in Bumblebee's servos. Her veins were visible and a deep purple, running the lengths of her arms and legs, disappearing under her clothes only to reappear running up her neck. Her skin was almost grey and her chest was barely moving. Her arm fell limp out of Bumblebee's grip, and her eyes were lidded, half open and crying blood.

"JANEY!" Cliffjumper was at her side in a second, taking her from Bumblebee's arms,

"Primus, Optimus she's barely breathing," he panicked, Arcee coming to his side and taking Jane's hand,

"She's deathly cold," Arcee gasped, Bulkhead coming to look over them. All Megatron did was stoke the fire, chuckling darkly,

"Looks like I swatted a bee, and squashed a bug," he snickered, smirking as Optimus saw the truth in his words,

"Ratchet! Bridge us back now!" Optimus ordered, not a moment later a Ground bridge opened; Cliffjumper, Arcee and Bumblebee all went through first. The moment they were through, Cliffjumper ran to Ratchet,

"Ratchet! It's Jane she…" Cliffjumper panicked, showing her to Ratchet. Ushering his and his patient to a medical berth, Ratchet demanded Jack call his mother.

Jane…was poisoned with Dark energon.

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**AN: Hey everyone, sorry this chapter was short but this one is going really slow at the moment so for the next while, until my muse comes back and I can get through all of my TAFE work, this is officially my first HAITUS. I promise it won't be for long, just until I can get a few things straightened out.**


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